Heathrow Airport Will Screen Passengers For Ebola

Airline passengers flying through London's Heathrow Airport from countries determined to be at risk for Ebola exposure will be screened for the virus. These passengers will have their temperatures taken, will fill out a questionnaire that determines their risk of having been exposed and will provide contact information for daily followup from Public Health England.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told Parliament on Monday that it would be "genuinely very difficult" to predict how many passengers would be affected by this screening, but that after three months of screening, the number is expected to be fewer than 10. A Heathrow spokesperson said that the transportation hub's main priority is "welfare of our passengers and colleagues," adding that "we would like to reassure passengers that the Government assesses the risk of a traveler contracting Ebola to be low."

After the Heathrow screening is established, the procedures will be instituted in Gatwick Airport and also for Eurostar train arrivals from Paris and Brussels.

Ebola has so far claimed 4,000 lives in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.