Heathrow airport starts screening passengers for Ebola

Passengers arriving at Heathrow airport from Ebola-affected countries are being screened by health officials, the BBC reported.

The British government confirmed that “a few passengers” had their temperatures checked and filled in a health questionnaire at Terminal 1 on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Health Ministers across the European Union are expected to discuss screening possible Ebola victims, to prevent the further spread of the virus in member state.

The meeting will specifically focus on whether co-ordinated action is needed to check passengers at EU airports and railway stations travelling from affected regions in West Africa.

"The idea is to discuss border controls when you arrive in the European Union with respect to Ebola," said the spokesman, Frédéric Vincent. "The European Commission thinks that a bit of coordination might be a nice thing and that’s what is going to be discussed."

The Telegraph also reports a health professional from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine saying that the screening at Heathrow “appears not to be a scientific decision but a political one”, noting that it will benefit few but disrupt “large numbers of people”.

Screening will be extended to Heathrow's other terminals by the end of the week, and Gatwick airport and Eurostar next week.

According to the BBC, the measures are set to cost £9 million over the next six months.

The UK and the US have both introduced screening measures in response to the threat from Ebola, which has killed more than 4,000 people in West Africa.

The first flight subjected to the screening left Liberia for Brussels on Monday night, with transfers coming into Heathrow at 09:30 BST on Tuesday.

High-risk passengers were flagged up to border control and passed on to health workers from Public Health England who then carried out the actual screening.

The Department of Health estimates that 85% of all arrivals to the UK from affected countries will come through Heathrow.

There are no direct flights to the UK from the three worst-affected countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea.