Breaking News: British Airways Suspends Flights to Sierra leone and Liberia

                                                  
                           
Breaking  News: British Airways Suspends Flights to Sierra leone and Liberia due to the Ebola outbreak.

‘Customers with tickets on those routes are being offered a range of options including a full refund and the ability to rebook their flights to a later date.’

British Airways, the national flag carrier for the UK, operates four flights a week between London’s Heathrow Airport and Monrovia, Liberia, with a stopover in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

It is not the first airline to ground flights over concerns about the epidemic in West Africa, where more than 1,600 people have been infected with the virus in recent months.

Late last week, Emirates became the first major international airline to cancel flights to Ebola-hit countries.

The Dubai-based carrier followed the lead of African carriers Arik and ASKY by halting flights to Guinea.

At the time, British Airways said it would continue to operate its flights between Heathrow and Liberia as it monitored the situation.

Meanwhile, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office is assuring the British public that it is taking the appropriate steps to stop the Ebola threat should an infected traveller arrive at the border.

The FCO has issued a statement on its website, telling the public: ‘Border Force has been working closely with Public Health England and other agencies to ensure staff are prepared to deal with the threat of the Ebola virus.

‘As part of this planning, guidance has been issued to front line staff on how to identify and safely deal with suspected cases of Ebola that makes clear what steps need to be taken should a passenger arrive at the border unwell.

‘If a person is identified at the border as being a potential carrier of Ebola they will be immediately referred by a Border Force officer to a specialist medical care provider and reported to the Public Health England.’

The FCO is encouraging people to refer to the National Travel Health Network and Centre’s website before travelling to the affected countries but it has not implemented any travel restrictions.  

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More than 880 people have died in West Africa during the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded

The West African nations of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia are dealing with the worst Ebola outbreak ever recorded since the virus was first detected in 1976.

A handful of cases have been reported in Nigeria.

Ebola is spread by close contact with organs or bodily fluids from an infected person or animal – living or dead – and there is no cure.

The highly transmissible virus causes haemorrhagic fever that kills as many as 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the people it infects in Africa.

ADVICE TO TRAVELLERS IN EBOLA-AFFECTED COUNTRIES 

Public Health England (PHE) advises that the risk to tourists, visitors or expatriate residents in affected areas is considered very low as long as they take the correct precautions.

The highest risks of infection are associated with caring for infected patients, particularly in hospital settings, unprotected exposure to contaminated bodily fluids, and unsafe medical procedures, including exposure to contaminated medical devices, such as needles and syringes.

It is recommended that travellers:

• Avoid contact with symptomatic patients and their bodily fluids
• Avoid contact with corpses and/or bodily fluids from deceased patients.
• Avoid close contact with live or dead wild animals (including monkeys, forest antelopes, rodents and bats)
• Avoid consumption of 'bush meat'
• Wash and peel fruits and vegetables before consumption
• Practice safe sex
• Follow strict hand washing routines