'Ebola could reach UK but Covid comparison is misleading'

A leading international health official, Jean Kaseya, of the Africa Centres for Disease Control, has claimed the African Ebola outbreak could reach the UK as the illness 'spreads like Covid'. 

Dr Simon Clarke, Associate Professor in Cellular Microbiology & Public Engagement in Science at the University of Reading, explains why the suggestion the disease could spread rapidly around the UK is 'misleading.'

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Dr Simon Clarke said: "The Ebola outbreak in Africa is now the fastest-spreading epidemic on record. There is no reason why the virus cannot find its way to the United Kingdom, as it has done before in 2014. 

"Recently the United States has tightened measures to restrict travel, requiring US-bound air travellers to attest that they’ve not been in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the preceding 21 days, highlighting the potential role international air travel could play in spreading the virus around the world.

"Comparing Ebola with COVID-19 is misleading. Ebola spreads less readily between people and requires direct contact with infected bodily fluids, such as blood, vomit, saliva, faeces or sweat. Unlike COVID-19, it cannot be caught simply by being near an infected person. People with Ebola become infectious only once symptoms appear. The risk of transmission rises as the illness worsens, peaking around the time of death.

"The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) currently rates the risk of Ebola to the UK population as low. Even so, the severe ongoing outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain in the DRC has prompted the UK to put in place a robust, multi-layered response built around early detection, containment and international mitigation.  A Returning Workers Scheme has been activated to track and monitor healthcare professionals, aid workers and military personnel coming back from Ebola-affected areas. Returnees are placed in one of four risk categories according to their level of exposure, and higher-risk individuals must isolate, check their temperature twice daily and stay under UKHSA supervision for the 21-day incubation period. Alongside this, Border Force and the Department for Transport work with UKHSA to give arrivals from high-risk regions targeted health information and clear guidance on what to do if symptoms develop.

"In an Ebola outbreak, UKHSA measures to stop community transmission would include ‘no-touch’ isolation for suspected cases, transfer of confirmed patients in biocontainment pods to specialist negative-pressure hospital units, and intensive contact tracing over 21 days.

“It’s worth remembering that since Ebola was first discovered in 1976, only four cases have ever been recorded in the UK, all of which were safely contained, and none of which resulted in a single death or community transmission. This is not something the British public should worry about.”