Doctors across New South Wales are being asked to consider a diagnosis of Ebola virus in patients with a fever and a history of travel to regions such as West Africa. The state’s health department has sent information to all emergency centres and diagnostic laboratories across the state, advising them of what signs and symptoms to look for. The information suggests suspected patients should be placed in a single room with strict infection control measures. A spokesperson for NSW Health says in the unlikely event of someone infected with Ebola travelling to Australia, the risk of spreading the infection to others is extremely low. The World Health Organisation (WHO) will hold an urgent meeting later this week to decide whether the outbreak in West Africa constitutes an international public health emergency. The outbreak of Ebola was detected in March in the remote forest regions of Guinea. WHO says the number of suspected, probable or confirmed Ebola cases sits at 1,711. The death toll is rising and now stands at at least 932. In neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, where the outbreak is spreading fastest, authorities deployed troops to quarantine the border areas where 70 per cent of cases have been detected. Authorities in Lagos, Nigeria said eight people who came into contact with deceased US citizen Patrick Sawyer were showing signs of the deadly disease. Those three countries announced a raft of tough measures last week to contain the disease, shutting schools and imposing quarantines on victims’ homes, amid fears the incurable virus would overrun healthcare systems in one of the world’s poorest regions. British Airways said it was suspending flights to and from Liberia and Sierra Leone until the end of the month due to public health concerns. Germany joined France and the United States in advising against travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, saying there was still no end in sight to the spread of the disease.
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