[ 2014-10-12 ]

UK Colleges on alert for ebola students
UNIVERSITIES are on full alert over the return of
20,000 students from ebola-stricken countries who
may have been at risk of contracting the deadly
virus.

They have drawn up plans to monitor some of the
highest-risk students — particularly those who
may be sharing bathrooms or kitchens — for up to
three weeks, the maximum incubation period for the
virus.

Cleaners are being warned to watch for symptoms of
the disease such as signs of blood or vomit in the
students’ bedrooms and are also being alerted to
the risks of infection from contact with bodily
fluids.

The universities are sensitive to potential
discrimination or isolation of the students and
are stressing the risks are minimal.

About 20,000 students from west African nations
that have been hit by ebola are studying at
British universities. They include Sierra Leone
and Liberia, two of the three countries worst
affected. Most — around 17,000 — are from
Nigeria, where the outbreak is said to have been
contained.

Yesterday the government held an eight-hour
national exercise to test the readiness of the NHS
to deal with an ebola case being diagnosed in
Britain. Actors played potential victims and
scenarios included a person collapsing in a
shopping centre in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, and
another presenting with flu-like symptoms at a
walk-in medical centre in Hillingdon, west
London.

Samples were taken from the “victims” and sent
for testing at Porton Down, the government’s
chemical and biological defence establishment in
Wiltshire.

Those found to be “positive” for the virus
were transferred to the specialist isolation
treatment centre at the Royal Free Hospital in
north London, and Public Health England organised
the tracing of movements and contacts.

Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, chaired a
simulated meeting of the Cobra emergency
committee. He said: “This is an extremely useful
exercise and I feel doubly reassured that we have
robust plans in place in the event that we get an
ebola case in the UK. We will evaluate what went
well and what we need to improve.”

He is due to make a statement to the Commons
tomorrow detailing the plans for airport checks at
Heathrow and Gatwick and at the Eurostar terminals
on passengers arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone
and Guinea after the government was accused of
turning the tests into a “shambles”.

Passengers will fill in a questionnaire and there
will be a triage process involving trained medical
staff who will administer temperature checks if
there are any grounds for concern. Passengers
could then be referred for further tests. It is
not known when the tests will begin but it is
likely to be “within a few days”.

At Exeter University 200 students from at-risk
countries are returning this term. A group of
university officers is monitoring accommodation
arrangements, “in particular shared room and
shared bathroom situations”.

Fay Sherrington, student services manager at
Lancaster University, said “most universities
are making sure cleaners are briefed on the risks.
They have more chance of coming into contact with
bodily fluids because they are cleaning bathrooms
in residences.” A big concern among university
officials is that African students will be shunned
or even attacked by people afraid of the risk they
pose.

“We would be concerned if there could be a
backlash against African students. That is
something we would be worrying about,” said an
officer at Exeter University.

At Cardiff University staff are being told to
isolate students complaining of ebola-like
symptoms before calling a health team.

At University College London, students are being
advised if they develop headache, diarrhoea or
vomiting within three weeks of arriving back in
the UK that they should call the emergency
services.

The move follows growing fears in western nations
of “imported ebola” cases from Africa. A US
study modelling the progress of the virus rated
Britain behind only America and France as western
nations most likely to import cases.

Alessandro Vespignani, one of the authors, said
the UK could see one or two cases in October or
November.

In Macedonia health authorities confirmed that the
death of British businessman Colin Jaffray, 58,
from Royston, Cambridgeshire, was not from the
ebola virus, as first feared.

The World Health Organisation this weekend
released updated figures showing the number of
deaths attributed to ebola had risen to 4,033. The
vast majority of the fatalities — 4,024 — were
in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Source - The Times(UK)

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