Risk of disease spreading ‘very low’

A Scottish nurse’s return to the UK from Sierra Leone after becoming infected with ebola is “extremely unlik-ely” to result in a large outbreak of the deadly virus in Britain, health chiefs said.

The NHS has stressed the likelihood of catching the disease remains “very low” unless a person has travelled to West Africa and had direct contact with an ebola sufferer showing symptoms.

People can get ebola if they come into contact with the blood, body fluids or organs of an infected person, or if they have contact with an infected animal or contaminated objects.

However, the disease is not as easily transmitted as a respiratory virus such as ‘flu and is generally not spread by shaking hands, travelling on public transport or sitting beside somebody with ebola who does not have any symptoms, according to NHS Choices.

Symptoms include a fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, a sore throat, and intense muscle weakness, which usually develop five to seven days after infection, the NHS said.

It means there is time to identify people who may have been exposed, put them under surveillance and, if they show symptoms, quarantine them.

An NHS spokesman said: “The time it takes for symptoms to appear after infection ranges from two to 21 days, so it is possible that a person infected in Africa could arrive in the UK. But this is extremely unlikely to result in a large outbreak of ebola virus disease in the UK.”

Britain also has a robust public health system with trained staff and facilities necessary to contain cases of ebola, the NHS said.

Pauline Cafferkey, a public health nurse at Blantyre Health Centre in South Lanarkshire, is getting specialist treatment for ebola at the Royal Free Hospital in north London after returning from Sierra Leone.