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Heightened fears of Ebola spreading beyond Africa

LONDON — Fears of the Ebola virus spreading outside Africa have been heightened after a woman in Hong Kong and two men in the United Kingdom showed symptoms of the deadly virus after travelling to the continent.

Ebola Virus. Photo: AP

Ebola Virus. Photo: AP

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LONDON — Fears of the Ebola virus spreading outside Africa have been heightened after a woman in Hong Kong and two men in the United Kingdom showed symptoms of the deadly virus after travelling to the continent.

While reports say the trio have tested negative for the virus, the British Foreign Secretary said the spread of the disease is a “very serious threat” to the UK, as he prepares to chair an emergency meeting on how to tighten Britain’s defences against Ebola.

In Hong Kong, a woman who had fever on her return from a trip to Kenya on Monday has been found to have tested negative for the virus, the South China Morning Post reported today (July 30). Meanwhile in the UK, a man has been tested for Ebola in Birmingham and another has visited a hospital over fears he was showing symptoms of the deadly virus. However, both have been given the all-clear by doctors, according to The Sun.

Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond said no British citizens were believed to be affected, adding he would chair an emergency meeting of officials on Wednesday to look at what precautions were needed.

In the largest outbreak of the virus in history, Ebola is believed to have killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since February, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The contagious disease, which has no known cure, has symptoms that include vomiting, diarrhoea and internal and external bleeding.

Experts say that the risk of travellers contracting Ebola is considered low because it requires direct contact with bodily fluids or secretions such as urine, blood, sweat or saliva.

While WHO has stopped short of recommending travel restrictions, the Togolese airline Asky has suspended flights to and from Sierra Leone and Liberia as concern over the spread of the virus has increased since the first death was reported last week in Nigeria’s coastal city of Lagos, home to 21 million people.

The dead man was Patrick Sawyer, a consultant for Liberia’s Finance Ministry in his 40s who took an ASKY Airlines flight from Liberia to Ghana, then on to Togo and eventually to Nigeria where he was immediately taken into quarantine until his death. AGENCIES

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