Hong Kong installs detection systems as WHO declares Ebola a global problem
Detection systems installed at Hong Kong's borders as epidemic that has killed nearly 1,000 in Africa is declared international emergency
The World Health Organisation yesterday declared the Ebola epidemic in West Africa an international public health emergency needing a coordinated global response.
The outbreak has killed 961 people in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria since it was first reported in March.
Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection (CHP) said the risk of the city being affected remained low, but it has stepped up precautions, such as installing detection systems at hospitals and border crossings.
Beijing announced a donation of 30 million yuan (HK$37 million) worth of medical equipment, such as protective clothing, monitoring devices and drugs, to the Ebola-hit areas.
"This is the largest, most severe and the most complex outbreak in the nearly four-decade history of this disease," said the WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun.
Similar emergencies were declared for the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and for polio in May.
CHP Controller Dr Leung Ting-hung said the latest declaration did not imply the city was in danger.