To think that anyone coming to the UK from Africa should be tested for Ebola before they touch down on British soil?

[SuperWifeANDMum]

Just that really.

I really hope the government is doing all they can to prevent this disease coming to the uk.

Poor OP ... Britain has already HAD somebody come in with Ebola ...they were a white British aid worker ad they made a full recovery

I agree with Grockle as well

seriously get over it - it's so not worth getting your union jack knickers in a twist about

I also agree with Grockle.

And I find it sad that the Liberian (not
'African' ) who is being treated in Dallas got infected because he was trying to take his very poorly 7 months pregnant relative to the hospital and she was turned away.

She had to go back home and die. I think we should spare a thought for victims such as her instead of being irrationally scared for ourselves.

What is happening is truely horrendous and it is a humanitarian disaster on a huge scale - in the countries where it is. It absolutely has to be stamped out - not for our sake, but for the sake of people who are suffering from this and who are highly likely to be suffering.

I think the OP is getting it now, but for others - we cannot possibly quarantine a whole continent.

I don't think its right to mock people who are frightened though - its better to educate people. We can't be experts in everything and the unknown is frightening.

The ebola test in the best circumstances takes two days to turn around, and that's in the States. The test does not show anything until the viral load is high enough to be detected. Unfortunately, by this time the patient is symptomatic and shedding virus. So its really not practical or useful to test asymptomatic travellers. Airport screening for symptomatic patients is going on.

What needs to be done is action where it is happening. It's not happening anywhere near fast enough. We also need to be vigilant here and in other countries because we will get the occasional case sneak through - its inevitable. I take huge comfort in that Nigeria didnt have a massive explosion in cases despite less than optimal circumstances in which ebola was introduced - they managed to get on top of it and stamp it out. If Nigeria can handle it, then we absolutely can.

It's just heart wrenching to even consider how isolating this virus is for all involved.

Reading recently about an amazing aid worker who is returning to Liberia. She talked of how despite the barriers presented in suits etc.... she gives the children just as much human contact as possible. Playing a game with them and taking toys.

She described how she will place a toy in with their little bodies if they die.

There are some amazingly brave and selfless people working within the affected area. It takes my breath away.

That's a nice post OYBBK

Much kinder than a lot of posters have (unnecessarily) been.

'Areas'

Great post, OYBBK.

More to the point, what everyone who's concerned SHOULD be doing is donating money to front-line organisations like Medecins Sans Frontieres. This is the most effective way of containing Ebola and preventing it from spreading out of control. The medics in Ebola-hit areas currently have nothing like the resources they need to combat this on their own, and so far the world's done its best to ignore this.

www.msf.org.uk/

Thanks, Temps I will donate now!!

Here's the link if anyone else wants to.

I don't see why we need to be overly kind to people who see hordes of people dying horrible deaths from a terrible disease far far away from them (in every sense) and whose first thought is "but what about me?!".

Kitten said pretty much the same as me, but more eloquently.

For those worried about being pestered by MSF after donating - I think there was a box to tick about not being contacted - apart from a single thank you letter after I donated, I've not been pestered at all and that was about 6 weeks ago I think....

I am concerned about children with parents who died of ebola. Who cares for them? Are they not outcasts now? Imagine being a child, sick and alone, and with your parents dead, and shunned?

And here is the Red Cross Ebola appeal.
www.redcross.org.uk/ebolavirus?gclid=CjwKEAjwkrmhBRD49Mbm_MvruWsSJAAEDt13X70iZVALqu-zj4be01aRtBe_MJZtL8lkmpOaCXg7UhoCFaDw_wcB

Dont forget to gift aid donations.

Quint it's awful....there are orphans left in the hospitals ....toddlers....

Many many tiny children orphaned some being fed by neighbours although they fear getting to close to them.

It is truly terrifying for all involved.

Well it's in that continent VeryLittle so I think that they should test everyone as a precaution.

OMG.

If I keep thinking about it, I will become a nervous wreck.

I picture the scene. Me and dh dead. Our two sons sick, terrified, grief-struck and isolated at home, dying a terrible death alone in their bodily fluids.

It is not my reality, but it is bad enough that it is somebody elses reality.

I everybody donated, it would make a massive difference. Even just a pound.

There are 54 countries in 'Africa'.

My husband is from Ivory Coast and was visiting his family in August this year. Ivory Coast borders 2 of the 3 countries where Ebola has broken out - Liberia and Guinea. I was frantic with worry for him and his family/neighbours etc. He passed through 3 airports on his journey home - Abidjan, Paris and Amsterdam. There were literally thousands of West Africans (not to mention Africans from other parts of the great continent) passing through too, just on that one day. It would be completely impossible to test everybody.

My sister is a doctor and says one could perhaps quickly take temperatures of passengers, and anyone with a raised temp could be detained in some way, but it really isn't practical.

I pity the sufferers and the bereaved from the bottom of my heart. Their lives are terrible anyway with little food, dreadful sanitation and political instability. (I have been there and seen it) And now this. We're praying that the WHO can soon get on top of containing the disease. I don't actually think there is much risk here in Europe. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be supporting WHO in every way possible. And there are countless ghastly diseases in W Africa (cholera, typhoid, meningitis, tuberculosis, rabies, polio etc.) My husband had to have NINE immunisations just to go home for a visit. Many people here in the luxury of a developed country haven't the least idea of the suffering of our fellow human beings elsewhere.

Sorry to rant, but this is obviously close to my heart!

Just a point about all these people being tested before coming onto British soil.

Kind of minor really, but...

...where are they going to do this and where are they going to stay whilst awaiting results? Are we proposing a holding place? Or will they have to be in solitary confinement for several days?

I think the words 'human rights' spring to mind...

If we are that worried, then closing the border would be more appropriate. Do you suggest we do that?

Many people here in the luxury of a developed country haven't the least idea of the suffering of our fellow human beings elsewhere.

^This.

It is beyond awful and we should remind ourselves that thousands of people are dealing with this outbreak who barely have access to clean water and a Paracetamol.

why such rude and nasty comments for god sake, un believable.

someone is worried and rightly so, and this is how posters respond?

are these posts helpful?

The OPs original post seems ignorant at best, bigoted at worst, but sadly lots of people seem to hold the same ideas.

I think the ops post is fine I think some of the responses are hideous, smug, scathing and nasty.

You could argue that borders are already more or less closed as most airlines are not flying there, and curfews are in place for the worst affected areas.

sorry, by "there" I meant Sierra Leone specifically, as that was the example discussed at the conference.