High alert for Ebola needed in Hong Kong, health minister says after emergency meeting
Emergency meeting on contingency plans in case of outbreak; woman tests negative
Hong Kong's health authorities stepped up surveillance against the deadly Ebola virus yesterday as a Hong Kong woman who fell ill after visiting Kenya tested negative for the disease.
This came as a British man quarantined with fever after a flight from Nigeria tested negative in Birmingham, England, for the virus that is spreading through West Africa in the worst outbreak in history.
Hong Kong should remain "highly alert" for Ebola, health minister Dr Ko Wing-man said after leading an emergency meeting with experts to discuss contingency plans in the event of an outbreak.
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British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the outbreak in Africa posed "a very serious threat" to the United Kingdom.
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Since March, there have been 1,201 cases of Ebola and 672 deaths in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
"There are no direct flights from West Africa to Hong Kong, but infectors could still be coming to the city by plane," Ko said.