Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Ebola outbreak will hit China, virus pioneer Peter Piot warns
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PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 October, 2014, 2:07pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 October, 2014, 4:22pm
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One of the scientists who discovered Ebola has warned that China is under threat from the deadly virus because of the huge number of Chinese workers in Africa.
Professor Peter Piot also made the grim prediction that Ebola would claim thousands more lives in the months ahead.
"It will get worse for a while, and then hopefully it will get better when people are isolated," said Piot, who is in Hong Kong for a two-day symposium. "What we see now is every 30 days there is a doubling of new infections."
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"In Africa, there are many Chinese working there. So that could be a risk for China in general, and I assume that one day [an outbreak of Ebola in China] will happen," said Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
He also said that infection control measures at mainland hospitals were not always "up to standard", which put public health at great risk.
Piot stressed the importance of training people to spot at-risk air passengers before they boarded. And he said voluntary surveillance measures at Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong were not effective enough. "Widespread screening [of arrivals] in airports is not that effective, to be honest ? the most cost-effective method is to screen people before they take the plane."
Piot said the best way to bring Ebola under control was the use of "safe and cheap" blood tests that took as little as 10 minutes.
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http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...&utm_content=20141028&utm_campaign=scmp_today
...
PUBLISHED : Monday, 27 October, 2014, 2:07pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 October, 2014, 4:22pm
...
One of the scientists who discovered Ebola has warned that China is under threat from the deadly virus because of the huge number of Chinese workers in Africa.
Professor Peter Piot also made the grim prediction that Ebola would claim thousands more lives in the months ahead.
"It will get worse for a while, and then hopefully it will get better when people are isolated," said Piot, who is in Hong Kong for a two-day symposium. "What we see now is every 30 days there is a doubling of new infections."
...
"In Africa, there are many Chinese working there. So that could be a risk for China in general, and I assume that one day [an outbreak of Ebola in China] will happen," said Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
He also said that infection control measures at mainland hospitals were not always "up to standard", which put public health at great risk.
Piot stressed the importance of training people to spot at-risk air passengers before they boarded. And he said voluntary surveillance measures at Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong were not effective enough. "Widespread screening [of arrivals] in airports is not that effective, to be honest ? the most cost-effective method is to screen people before they take the plane."
Piot said the best way to bring Ebola under control was the use of "safe and cheap" blood tests that took as little as 10 minutes.
...
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/...&utm_content=20141028&utm_campaign=scmp_today