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Britain will conduct "enhanced screening" for Ebola among people traveling from countries affected by the disease, Downing Street announced Thursday.
Enhanced screening will "involve assessing passengers' recent travel history, who they have been in contact with and onward travel arrangements as well as a possible medical assessment," a Downing Street spokesperson said in a statement.
The screening will initially be implemented at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and Eurostar train terminals.
Screening at airports in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea has been in place for some weeks to ensure all passengers leaving affected countries are checked.
Britain's Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies on Thursday advised that "enhanced screening arrangements at the UK's main ports of entry for people traveling from the affected regions -- Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- will offer an additional level of protection to the UK."
"Rapid access to healthcare services by someone infected with Ebola is not only important for their health but also key to reducing the risk of transmission to others," she explained.
Passengers will also be given advice on what to do should they develop symptoms later. The possible medical assessment will be conducted by trained medical personnel rather than Border Force staff.
The measures "will help to improve our ability to detect and isolate Ebola cases. However, it is important to stress that given the nature of this disease, no system could offer 100 percent protection from non-symptomatic cases," the statement continued.
Noting that the overall risk to the British public remains "very low," the Downing Street spokesperson added that contingency planning is also underway, including a national exercise and wider resilience training to ensure the country is "fully prepared."
Britain's measures came as the United States imposed additional screening at some airports following the death of a patient diagnosed with the virus on American soil. Enditem
