Brussels, 15/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - During a high-level meeting on Thursday 16 October, European health ministers will examine opportunities for carrying out coordinated action at member state level for controlling entry points, in an effort to stem the spread of the Ebola virus.
More particularly, control procedures at airports and railway stations will be discussed, given that the United Kingdom has already put such measures into place. Prevention protocols followed by European hospitals will also be discussed. The European Commission emphasised that, “reports of the first case of Ebola contracted in the EU have underlined the need to have all possible means of prevention and preparedness in place in Europe”.
A European Commission expert provided assurances that the European Union is moving towards carrying out regular risk assessments involving Ebola virus contagion on its territory, since the first signs of the disease were detected last March in West Africa. This expert also underlined the fact that the Health Safety Committee would be meeting up every week to evaluate the situation. Given the long incubation period for the disease (21 days before the patient shows the first signs), entry controls will not be the panacea, explained this expert, but these controls could be added to other additional precautionary measures to the exit controls being carried out in the three African countries affected (Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea) and which are absolutely indispensable. Those arriving from these countries must be informed by the member states of what procedures should be followed, if they show suspect symptoms and that they must contact the health services to see what should be done, rather than immediately going to hospital emergency services, explained the same source. In the context of vaccines, there are currently experimental trials being carried out but the European Union is waiting to see the results from the clinical trials before proceeding to developing a serum and subsequently testing its efficiency.
On the subject of the contaminated nurse on Spanish territory, the Commission has so far refused to comment and would only indicate that, “the investigation is still ongoing… something bad happened. The shortcoming needs to be identified in order to update our protocols”. (IL)