Authorities to test passengers from Ebola-hit countries

AMMAN — Travellers entering Jordan from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, the three West African countries hit hardest by the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history, will be monitored and undergo necessary checkups at the airport, according to the Ministry of Health.

“Although we have no direct flights with these countries, passengers arriving at airports and those who show symptoms of the disease will be asked if they visited these countries,” Mohammad Abdullat, director of the Health Ministry's communicable diseases department, told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

There are liaison officers affiliated with the Ministry of Health at the country’s airports who are well trained and capable of identifying cases with symptoms of Ebola, he said.

“In case any passenger show these symptoms, they will be thoroughly tested and taken to isolation rooms available at airports… All these measures are part of a national plan that Jordan has adopted to face Ebola,” he said.

The official said that no devices will be installed at airports to detect persons infected with the deadly virus.

He added that the Health Ministry advised Jordanians not to travel to the countries hit by the outbreak of Ebola.

Health officials have announced recently that Jordan was ready to deal with any potential Ebola cases in an isolated and equipped department at Al Bashir Hospital with a 30-bed capacity.

No cases of Ebola have been registered in Jordan, which has recently announced that there was a plan in place to deal with the fatal disease.

This year’s outbreak of the highly infectious haemorrhagic fever, thought to have originated in forest bats, is the worst on record, having killed more than 4,500 people, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to Reuters.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), which so far has not recommended blanket travel or trade restrictions on West African countries, has warned of 5,000-10,000 new cases of Ebola globally every week by December.
WHO has said the outbreak constitutes an international public health emergency and has urged the screening of passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, Reuters reported.