Ebola : WHO Meets to Dicuss Travel Restrictions
THE World Health Organisation is set to hold emergency talks to discuss the Ebola epidemic.The meeting will assess the efforts so far to control the virus, which continues to spread in the worst affected countries in West Africa.
New rules in the US require travellers from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone to arrive at one of five airports.
Meanwhile a curfew has been imposed in a town in Sierra Leone after two people were shot dead in riots on Tuesday.The current outbreak of the virus has already killed more than 4,500 people – mostly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The WHO has faced criticism it reacted too slowly to the spread of the disease.
In a meeting on Wednesday, its emergency committee will look closely at whether screening measures at borders are working.According to reports a first batches of an experimental vaccine against Ebola are also due to arrive in Switzerland,However, a fully tested and approved vaccine is not expected to become available for months or possibly years, our correspondent adds.
Meanwhile, air passengers arriving in the US from the three worst affected countries must now travel via O’Hare in Chicago, JFK, Newark, Washington’s Dulles or Atlanta, where they will undergo enhanced screening.They will have their temperatures checked as part of other protocols, despite experts warning such moves are unlikely to have an impact.The new security measures come as public concern grows in the US, where three people have been infected and one person has died from the virus.
The precautions stop short of the travel ban sought by some US Congress members.US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said authorities were working closely with airlines to introduce the latest US restrictions with “minimal travel disruption”.There are no direct scheduled flights to the United States from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea
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