EU Ebola Response: Member States Send Additional Health Personnel To The Region

The European Union and its Member States continue to mobilize all available resources to help contain the largest Ebola epidemic on record.

In response to the EU's call for the mmobilization of qualified, trained and experienced health workers, Greece will send a team of six medical personnel - four doctors, a nurse and a paramedic- to the affected countries of West Africa through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, as well as contributing to the funding of much-needed material. This was announced in a joint statement by EU Ebola Coordinator Christos Stylianides and the Greek Minister of Health, Mavroudis Voridis, on Saturday 6 December, in Athens.

"We welcome and applaud Greece's decision to deploy medical staff to the most affected countries,only the second Member State to do so. The European Union will provide all necessary support for this initiative," said Christos Stylianides, EU Ebola Coordinator and Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, who recently visited the three most affected countries Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. "I call on all Member States to mobilise additional resources. More health personnel, more trainers for health workers, more epidemiologists are urgently needed on the ground."

Several Member states have already responded to the Commissioner's call. France, for instance, recently offered two additional medical teams who work in Guinea and Mali, and Sweden deployed 42 doctors, nurses and other health personnel via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, who currently run a treatment center in Liberia.

To support the mobilization of international humanitarian aid workers, the EU member States' contributions are also strengthening the capacities to evacuate international aid staff who contract Ebola. Following Luxembourg which announced the availability of two planes for this purpose in November, Germany has now made available an airplane fully equipped for the treatment of severe Ebola cases.

To stop the epidemic from spreading further, mobile laboratories for early detection of the virus are deployed in the affected region. The most recent contribution was offered by Belgium on Friday; a mobile laboratory will be deployed to Guinea shortly with support via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

A coherent European response

The European Union has been active in the response to the Ebola emergency from the start. The total EU contribution to the fight against Ebola is over EUR 1.1 billion of which over EUR 374 million has been provided by the European Commission for humanitarian and development aid, early recovery assistance as well as medical research. The EU has also deployed humanitarian experts and specialists in infectious diseases to the region and coordinates the Member States' contributions in aid supplies, medical equipment, ambulances and field hospitals.

Background

West Africa is currently facing the worst Ebola epidemic on record. More than 17 000 people have been infected and more than 6 000 people have died in the affected countries.

The unprecedented scale of the Ebola epidemic requires a robust and effective coordinated international response. Beyond the human tragedy, the disease is having devastating effects on the security and economy of the whole region, including the collapse of health systems in Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as shortcomings in the food security and nutrition, governance, agriculture, security and other key areas.

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World Health Organization Recommends Ebola Affected Countries Start Screening All Passengers

An airport worker measures body temperature as part of the Ebola screening process at Lungi International Airport in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Photograph: Meng Chenguang/Xinhua Press/Corbis

UN health agency urges screening at airports, sea ports and borders, but says risk of transmission during flights is low

The UN health agency urged Ebola-affected countries on Monday to start screening all passengers leaving international airports, sea ports and major ground crossings.

There is a low risk of the Ebola virus being transmitted during air travelbecause unlike infections such as influenza or tuberculosis, it is not spread by breathing air and airborne particles from an infected person, the World Health Organisation said. Nonetheless, all travellers are urged to routinely wash their hands and anyone with an illness consistent with the virus should not be allowed to travel unless it is part of an appropriate medical evacuation.

The WHO said countries unaffected by the Ebola outbreak in west Africashould still strengthen their ability to detect and immediately contain new cases, without doing anything that unnecessarily interferes with international travel or trade. But it said countries did not need to impose travel restrictions and active screening of passengers if they did not share borders with Ebola-affected countries.

A taskforce to monitor Ebola's impact on travel and transport has been set up by the WHO, along with the International Civil Aviation Organisation, World Tourism Organisation, Airports Council International, International Air Transport Association and World Travel and Tourism Council.

Most of the infections in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have occurred when family members or friends caring for those who are ill or during burials do not follow infection prevention and control measures, WHO officials said.

From The Guardian and AP.

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A Guide For Fliers Worried About The Ebola Outbreak

Contributed by Scott Mayerson, AP.

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2014 file photo, a South Korean quarantine officer, right, checks the body temperature of a passenger against the possible infection of Ebola virus at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, South Korea. South Korea has been stepping up monitoring of its citizens returning from trips to West Africa and other areas affected by the deadly Ebola virus. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Shin Jun-hee, File) KOREA OUT As the Ebola outbreak in West Africa grows, airlines around the globe are closely monitoring the situation but have yet to make any drastic changes. Below are some key questions about the disease, what airlines are doing and how safe it is to fly.

Q: Why are airlines concerned?

A: Airlines quickly take passengers from one part of the globe to another. One sick passenger on a plane could theoretically infect hundreds of people who are connecting to flights to dozens of other countries. Health and airline officials note, however, that Ebola only spreads through direct contact. Outbreaks of diseases that can spread through the air, such as the flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, are more problematic for airlines.

Q: Should people travel to West Africa?

A: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday issued a warning for Americans to avoid nonessential travel to the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Q: Is Ebola deadly?

A: Very much so. If contracted, there is no vaccine and no specific treatment. Ebola has a fatality rate of at least 60 percent. The World Health Organization estimated Monday that there have been 887 deaths from the current outbreak.

Q: How is Ebola transmitted?

A: The virus only spreads through direct contact with the blood or fluids of an infected person, according to the CDC. It can also be spread through objects, such as needles, that have been contaminated with infected fluids. No airborne transmission has been documented.

Q: Do U.S. airlines fly to West Africa?

A: Delta Air Lines flies to Dakar, Senegal; Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria. The airline also flies to Monrovia, Liberia, but for unrelated business reasons previously announced it will cancel that service at the end of September. Delta is letting passengers with flights to the region in the next two weeks push back travel until the end of the month. United Airlines also flies to Lagos, but has not issued any travel waiver. American Airlines does not fly to Africa.

Q: What are U.S. airlines saying about it?

A: There have been no flight cancellations. All three airlines said they are in regular communication with government agencies and health officials and will follow their recommendations.

Q: What about airlines from other countries?

A: European carriers such as Air France-KLM, British Airways and Lufthansa all fly to Western Africa from their hubs in Paris, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt.

Lufthansa notes that "there is no risk of getting infected by the Ebola virus via air circulation during flight." Crews on Brussels Airlines flights have access to special thermoscans to check passengers' temperature, if they feel it's necessary. And British Airways has briefed all crew members flying to the region about the "causes and symptoms of Ebola." The only airline, so far, to cancel any flights is the Middle East airline Emirates. It has suspended its service to Conakry, Guinea, until further notice. It is still flying to Dakar.

Q: Are passengers leaving Africa being screened?

A: Since the outbreak erupted, the CDC has sent about two dozen staffers in West Africa to help try to track cases, set up emergency response operations and provide other help to control the outbreak. Last week, CDC officials said the agency will send 50 more in the next month. CDC workers in Africa also are helping to screen passengers at airports, according to CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden.

Q: Is the U.S. government doing anything extra for arriving passengers?

A: Border patrol agents at Washington's Dulles International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, in particular, are looking out for travelers who might have been exposed to the virus. They're watching for signs of fever, achiness, sore throat, stomach pain, rash or red eyes. The CDC also has staff at 20 U.S. airports and border crossings evaluating travelers with signs of dangerous infectious diseases and isolating them when necessary.

Q: Has the airline industry dealt with any outbreaks in the past?

A: In 2003, there was a global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. The disease was first reported in Asia but quickly spread to more than two dozen countries in North America, South America and Europe. Unlike Ebola, SARS can spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. During the 2003 outbreak, 8,098 people worldwide became sick with SARS; 774 of those died. Airports started screening incoming passengers for fever. The disease was devastating for airlines because fearful passengers stayed home.

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With reports from AP Medical Writer Mike Stobbe, New York.

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Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott.