Government: "Britain is ready for Ebola outbreak"

[dutchman]

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style ... 38783.html

Yeah, the same way the government was ready for Foot & Mouth disease!

We'll all be dead before the government takes any effective action.

At the very least you'd think they would have already banned all flights from infected areas?

[rebbonk]

At the very least you'd think they would have already banned all flights from infected areas?

If the shower of excrement we employ to run this country had brains, they'd be dangerous!

You speak plain common sense Dutchman. Sadly, common sense isn't so common!

[dutchman]

Ebola outbreak: suspected case at British immigration centre



An asylum seeker was suspected of having the deadly Ebola virus after developing symptoms within days of arriving in Britain from Libera, it emerged today.

The man, who was awaiting processing at an immigration centre run by security company G4S in Gatwick, was feared to be carrying the disease, which has killed more than 700 people in West Africa.

Immigration staff isolated the man and tested him for Ebola earlier this week, but he did not have the infection.

However the incident shows how easy it would be for the deadly disease to enter Britain through illegal channels.

Border staff at UK airports also claim they have not been trained to deal with suspected cases coming into the country.

Major British hubs like Heathrow have failed to tighten procedures even though airports in Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa have introduced beefed up screening.

Keith Vaz MP, the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee, has written to Theresa May, the home secretary, demanding to know which entry point in the UK is most at risk and how border staff are being protected against infection.

“I am concerned that officers enforcing our borders suggest they may not be fully prepared to protect the public from the spread of this deadly virus.

“Prevention is not just better than cure, in this case it is essential. I have written to the Home Secretary to ensure that we are doing all we can to protect the UK on the frontline.”

Immigration Service Union general secretary Lucy Moreton said customs, border and immigration staff were worried about being infected and had not been given proper advice about how to deal with people suspected of being sick.

Mrs Moreton said: "They serve on the front line; they are the first point of contact usually for people coming off an aircraft and the concern is what do they do if they're confronted with someone that doesn't appear well who appears at the border.

"There is no health facility at the border, there is no containment facility and until extremely recently there has been no guidance issued to staff at all as to what they should do."

Ms Moreton said members had been contacting the union for guidance on what to do and how to protect themselves, but that it had no answers for them.

[dutchman]

UK is 'vulnerable' to next Ebola outbreak

The UK is vulnerable to epidemics such as Ebola because of a gaping hole in the country's ability to manufacture vaccines, a group of MPs has warned.

The Science and Technology Committee said the UK "lacks the capacity" to produce enough to protect people.

And they said the government's response to the Ebola outbreak was "undermined by systematic delay".

More than 11,000 people died in West Africa since the start of the largest-ever outbreak of Ebola.

MPs praised the "heroic" efforts of the volunteers who often put their own lives on the line to tackle the epidemic.

But their report warned: "We are also concerned that, in the unlikely but possible event of a domestic outbreak, the UK lacks the capability to go further and manufacture enough vaccines to vaccinate UK citizens in an emergency.

"Existing facilities are degraded and new plants will take years to build, leaving the UK in a vulnerable position."

The concern is that should a disease such as Ebola spread around the world then countries would look after their own interests first, making it hard for the UK to get hold of vaccines.

Those concerns were echoed by the chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies, who told the committee that "we are looking at how we can try and attract companies back".

Whereas Prof Adrian Hill, who was involved in trialling Ebola vaccines at Oxford University, described the lack of vaccine manufacturing as a "national security issue".

The report also said "delays were evident at every stage of our response" to the crisis.

It pointed to research suggesting 12,500 cases of Ebola would have been prevented if treatment centres were set up just one month earlier.

And there was again criticism of the decision to set up screening at UK airports, contrary to recommendations from the World Health Organization.

Nicola Blackwood, the chairwoman of the committee, said: "The UK response to Ebola - like the international one - was undermined by systematic delay.

"The government's emergency response procedures were triggered far too late in the day, Ebola test kits were developed and trialled, but not deployed, and the initial response was ad hoc and uncoordinated.

"A combination of hard work and chance prevented Ebola spreading further than it did, but a future epidemic may be less containable and spread within the UK as well as overseas.

"We must take the opportunity now to ensure that the UK is not caught unprepared when the next disease emergency strikes. Lives can be lost for every day of delay."

Told ya so!