* Says Number of workers in Africa raises threat, says Peter Piot, who also dismisses HK screening
One of the scientists who discovered Ebola has warned that China is
under threat from the deadly virus because of the huge number of Chinese
workers in Africa.
Professor Peter Piot also made the grim prediction that Ebola would claim thousands more lives in the months ahead.
"It will get worse for a while, and then hopefully it will get better
when people are isolated," said Piot, who is in Hong Kong for a two-day
symposium. "What we see now is every 30 days there is a doubling of new
infections."
He estimated the epidemic would last another six to 12 months.
West Africa is experiencing the worst Ebola outbreak in history.
Cases have also been recorded in the United States, Germany, Spain,
Norway, France and Britain. So far, 10,141 suspected cases have been
reported and the death toll stands at 4,922.
"In Africa, there are many Chinese working there. So that could be a
risk for China in general, and I assume that one day [an outbreak of
Ebola in China] will happen," said Piot, director of the London School
of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
He also said that infection control measures at mainland hospitals
were not always "up to standard", which put public health at great risk.
Piot stressed the importance of training people to spot at-risk air
passengers before they boarded. And he said voluntary surveillance
measures at Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong were not effective enough.
"Widespread screening [of arrivals] in airports is not that effective,
to be honest … the most cost-effective method is to screen people before
they take the plane."
A patient feared to have Ebola in Hong Kong tested negative in a
preliminary test yesterday. The 39-year-old man, who had been in Nigeria
from October 13 to 20, went to Prince of Wales Hospital before being
transferred to the Infectious Disease Centre at Princess Margaret
Hospital.
Piot said the best way to bring Ebola under control was the use of
"safe and cheap" blood tests that took as little as 10 minutes.
Ebola is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, and Piot
said there was no scientific evidence that the virus would become
airborne.
The World Health Organisation has warned there could be 10,000 new
cases a week by December if governments worldwide do not act. It said
the earliest a vaccine could be made available was the middle of next
year.
Piot said that three pharmaceutical firms were working on vaccines,
and the results of an early trial of one drug may be available by
February. He hoped that confidence could be built among people in
Ebola-stricken countries to receive the vaccines.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said last week a "massive surge in
assistance" was needed to supply more protective equipment, mobile
laboratories and medical workers.
China has sent a new batch of protective gear and equipment to seven African countries.
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