Health officials play down Ebola threat

We’re learning much more tonight about the first patient diagnosed with Ebola in North America.

The patient has been identified and there was an apparent error that could have put more people at risk during the man’s first visit to hospital.

In this country, Canadian health officials are attempting to soothe the public about the Ebola case by saying the risk is low. But that doesn’t necessarily ease the minds of travellers.

While there are no direct flights to Canada from any of the countries’ most heavily affected by Ebola — Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia — there are connecting flights. So that means that people could originate in any one of those countries, take a connecting flight from Europe and come here. that makes it very difficult for air travellers to know whether or not they’re sitting right next to some or someone on the plane has come into contact with Ebola. And now we know Ebola is just a plane ride away.

Yesterday was the first confirmed case of Ebola diagnosed outside of West Africa. A man who had gone to Liberia to visit family, flew back to Dallas, Texas and had no symptoms at the time.

But days later, he came down with symptoms, went to the hospital and was sent home with just a prescription for antibiotics. He was later taken back to the hospital by ambulance and diagnosed with Ebola. The ambulance crew is now in quarantine and there are 12 to 18 people who came into contact with the man who are also being monitored.

Some frequent travellers at Pearson airport are concerned, but otherwise travellers weren’t too worried.

“It would probably be nice if people were screened in some manner. It’s a difficult issue related to their personal privacy. Certainly, people returning from those regions where they’re exposed to those types to things would probably require a little extra diligence to make sure they’re not bringing it back into the country.”

“I read some reports on the medical that, actually Bill Gates made a comment that he thought that everything’s under control. If Bill Gates says it’s good, it must be good. (I’m from) Houston, Texas. We’ve been through all the SARS and everything else and there’s no panic. I’m sure the medical community has got it under control.”

Canada’s top health official, Dr. Gregory Taylor says the risk of Ebola Coming to Canada is very low. But he says if it does come, our country is prepared. He says we have 500 vials of the experimental drug Zmapp on reserve for healthcare workers should they become sick.

He also said there will be four new provincial labs that will be able to test for Ebola. There will also be new screening protocols put into place at all of the airports across the country.

The CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) if the person is coming from that area have a little reminder on the computer screen and can ask a question ‘are you ill?’ If the person says ‘yes’, they’re referred immediately to the quarrantine officers for a full assessment. That’s new and that’s very specific in trying to detect a person coming from that area who could possibly be ill at the time. As mentioned earlier, if the person is asymptomatic as in the U.S. case, that’s not going to pick anything up. But we’re hoping to pick up anybody who is travelling when they are ill.”

The World Health Organization says there could be 1.4 million cases of Ebola worldwide by January and more than half of them could die. There have been 3,000 killed already by the deadly virus.

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair says Canada is not doing enough to stem the tide: “With the first confirmed case of Ebola in the United States, can the Prime Minister tell Canadians what precautions are being put in place to stop the spread of Ebola here in Canada.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “The public health agency has been seized with this and there are no concerned cases. The public Health Agency believes the risk to Canadians remains low. It is more than ready to respond if a case of Ebola does reach Canada. But I would point out that both the public health agency and the Department of Foreign Affairs have recommended that Canadians avoid all non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.”

Whether or not passengers are concerned, there are fears on the U.S. stock markets. Airline stocks sank over worries that the first diagnosis of Ebola in the U.S. would cause people to curtail their travel plans. American Airlines and Delta each fell 3 per cent.