Ebola Outbreak Forces Hong Kong, UK Officials To Grapple With 'Threat'

Officials in Hong Kong and the U.K. are taking greater measures to grapple with the increasingly global reach of the Ebola virus, which has already claimed at least 672 lives in West Africa, including testing and quarantining passengers that show symptoms.

British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Wednesday the virus is “a threat. It is something we need to respond to,” as quoted by Reuters.

Officials in Hong Kong seem to be taking the Ebola outbreak as a threat to their population as well. Quartz reported that a woman was held in a hospital isolation ward while being tested for Ebola, after returning from Africa.

According to China Daily, the woman had “symptoms similar to the Ebola virus,” which Quartz reported includes headaches, fever and stomach pain. She eventually tested negative on Wednesday. The virus has a 90 percent mortality rate.

In Birmingham, England, a man returning from Nigeria -- where Ebola claimed the life of Patrick Stewart, an American citizen and reportedly the first death from the virus in Nigeria -- was quarantined and tested for Ebola virus. He tested negative.

As international fear over the reach of the virus grows, Reuters reported Hammond will hold a meeting with top-level government officials on Wednesday to discuss how to deal with the threat.