WHO: Ebola outbreak in the west is ‘unlikely’

A major outbreak of Ebola in the US and elsewhere in the West is unlikely given the strong health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. US federal health officials will appear before a congressional committee today to answer questions about their handling of the crisis.

US President Obama also said the risk of Americans getting the virus was “extremely low”, although he ordered a “much more aggressive response”.

Photo/CDC

The US is investigating how a nurse infected when treating a victim in Texas was allowed to travel on a plane. Officials are trying to trace the 132 people who flew with Amber Vinson.

The disease has killed about 4,500 people so far, mostly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

EU health ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss the crisis, including increased screening of travellers and the possibility of sending more troops to West Africa to help contain the virus.

“The possibility that once an infection has been introduced that it spreads elsewhere, is something that everybody is going to be concerned about,” Christopher Dye, WHO director of strategy said.

But he added: “We’re confident that in North America and Western Europe where health systems are very strong, that we’re unlikely to see a major outbreak in any of those places.”

Britain, Canada and the US have introduced increased screening of travellers arriving at airports from West Africa.

France said on Wednesday that it would begin checks from Saturday on passengers arriving at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport from the Guinean capital, Conakry.