Authorities worldwide tightened screening of travellers and
struggled to prevent public panic over the spread of west African contagion.Scare stories proliferated as international airport hubs including London and Washington stepped up screening for the disease Ebola that has killed 4,000 people, roughly half of all those infected.
People from Australia to Zimbabwe, and from Macedonia to
Spain, who exhibited signs of fever or had recent contact with Ebola victims,
were whisked into isolation units or ordered to stay in their homes to sit out
a 21-day incubation period for the virus.Authorities warned against hoaxes that could trigger dangerous public panic — as one man did on a US commercial flight on Thursday, announcing to fellow travellers he was sick with Ebola.
The United Nations and leaders of the Ebola-stricken nations
of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, however, urged world powers to turn their
attention back to the African frontline, where a huge increase in aid was needed
to stem the lethal tide.Doctors took in seven more patients for observation late on Thursday at Madrid’s Carlos III hospital, where nurse Teresa Romero, the first person to be infected with Ebola outside Africa, was reported to be in a “serious but stable” condition.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention predicted the number
of cases could mount to 1.4 million by January unless strong measures
are taken to contain the disease.At the annual meeting in Washington of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on Thursday, African, US and UN officials entreated donor nations to step up help.
UN Secretary-General Ban said resources to support the fight must be increased 20-fold.
Source: AFP
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