Public Health England says no need for extra airport screenings

Public Health England (PHE) has said there are no plans to bring Ebola screenings to British airports.

On Monday President Barack Obama announced that the US will increase security measures to prevent the infectious disease from spreading, but PHE has now revealed the UK will not follow suit.

According to the BBC, the organisation also claimed that if a case of Ebola was discovered in the UK, it would be isolated and protective measures would be put in place.

Director of Global Health at PHE Brian McClockey reportedly said: "Our robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases are all active permanently, and always available and regularly tested and proven to be effective.”

"The overall risk of Ebola to the UK remains low."

Passengers are screened when they leave affected countries, in adherence with World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

Professor Jon Oxford is a virologist at Queen Mary University and he told the BBC that the British medical community has been well briefed in case of a UK outbreak.

He said: “Every doctor has been warned to look out for people coming into hospitals, taking the proper case history and not letting anything slip at that stage and taking it very seriously.”

But he argued that an epidemic in this country would be very unlikely.

"The virus is very fragile and easily destroyed by heating hot water, soap and detergent. So in a country where the infrastructure is good, where the hygiene level is good, where every house has running chlorinated water, a virus like this will find it exceedingly difficult to make a move."