A lie and Ibuprofen, a drug used as an anti-inflammatory and painkiller, can get anyone leaving West Africa through screenings at airports and onto a plane with any destination they like, according to healthcare experts cited by Reuters. They consider the current screening methods ineffective, and believe more must be done to keep the disease out of our cities.
The only method currently used by airport officials in the West African countries affected by the Ebola epidemic – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – is screening people for fever, the first symptom of the disease. It’s better than nothing, but it’s not foolproof – the screening equipment used by the airports is many times inaccurate, and can easily be fooled by a dose of ibuprofen. The anti-inflammatory drug can reduce fever long enough for people to pass screening.
According to the airport officials in Liberia, the first Ebola patient to be diagnosed in the US has undergone screening, but has lied on a questionnaire about his exposure to the disease. He was let to board a plane to Brussels, where he boarded another one towards the Dulles airport in Washington, and finally flew to Dallas on September 20. The fact that he could fly halfway around the world and only be diagnosed in the US demonstrates the lack of efficiency of the screening processes in Africa and the over-reliance of the US health services on their African counterparts on this matter.
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Infection control specialist Sean Kaufman told Reuters that he flew from the Monrovia airport in Liberia to Casablanca, than to London and finally to Atlanta. He was required to undergo Ebola screening (fever screening plus a questionnaire) at the Liberian airport and Casablanca only, but not at the Heathrow in London, and neither at his final destination. He revealed that he was not even asked about his point of departure at the London airport, and when he revealed it to the Atlanta official, the only reply he got was “Thank you. Be safe”.