Ebola can beat airport scanners

01 August 2014 - 02:01 By MJ, by e-mail
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For South Africa not to ban flights both in and out of West African countries until the Ebola epidemic is under control is irresponsible.

The deadly virus is running rife and there is no cure.

National Institute for Communicable Diseases deputy director Lucille Blumberg said she did not believe the virus would spread on an aircraft, and there is little chance of it arriving in South Africa. What ridiculous statements.

To say infected patients don't have the means to travel by air is absolute rubbish.

American Patrick Sawyer was on a plane that arrived at Lagos airport in Nigeria. He developed Ebola on the plane and vomited on the plane.

If he had not collapsed in Lagos, he would have continued on to the US.

If the vomit was cleaned up, instead of being regarded as a hazardous waste, the cleaner is probably infected. How was this waste disposed of?

Passengers who sat near Sawyer are probably infected. His fellow passengers were allowed to continue on their journeys. This is concerning because they should have been quarantined and monitored.

The cabin staff on this plane are probably still interacting with the public and could be infected - it takes 21 days for symptoms to appear.

We need to take more decisive action than simply relying on scanners when people enter South Africa. That is just not good enough.

If just one infected person arrives in South Africa, that will be it. We will have Ebola.

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