Local Ebola epidemic unlikely thanks to Hong Kong's experience, expert says
The man who co-discovered the disease believes the city is well prepared
The man who co-discovered the deadly Ebola virus says the chance of the epidemic in West Africa spreading to Hong Kong is "very, very small" because of the city's experience in dealing with serious outbreaks of disease.
Peter Piot, the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the knowledge gained in handling the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in 2003 was one of the city's best defences against the Ebola virus, which has claimed more than 1,500 lives in West Africa in recent months.
As Ebola was not transmitted through the air, the city was relatively safe, Piot, 65, told the . "Hong Kong has experienced big epidemics of flu and Sars and the main reason is because they are airborne. In a highly densely populated city, airborne viruses are a major risk," he said.
"Whereas [Ebola] is only transmissible through close contact with an individual who is ill with Ebola, or with contaminated needles and syringes."
Piot, who will visit the city in October for a symposium co-hosted by Hong Kong University, said that while nowhere was immune to an outbreak, the risk to Hong Kong was minuscule.
"Given the level of hospital hygiene and professionalism in Hong Kong hospitals and health facilities, the risk that this would give rise to an epidemic is very, very small," Piot said.
"But it's not impossible that someone would travel from Africa, from the endemic area, to Hong Kong while he or she is in the incubation period," which can be between three days and three weeks.
The latest figures from the World Health Organisation show that 1,552 people have died from 3,069 cases that have been reported, but the WHO warned actual number of infections could be two to four times higher.
Earlier this month, a 32-year-old Nigerian man staying at Chungking Mansions in Tsim Sha Tsui was taken to hospital with a suspected case of Ebola. He later tested negative for the virus.
Hospital chiefs came under fire for how the case was handled after CCTV footage showed medical staff who attended to the man - who had arrived from Nigeria a few days earlier - were wearing limited protective gear.
Piot pointed out that more than 140 nurses and doctors in West Africa have died while caring for Ebola patients. "I don't think that would happen in Hong Kong because of far better hospital hygiene, but I think it's important to make sure that medical and paramedical staff are fully aware and trained and all the protective gear is there."
Piot, who was the founding chief of UNAids, also called on better safe sex education in Hong Kong in light of new figures that showed the number of new HIV cases in the city was set to hit a record high for the fourth year running, with a large number of cases involving gay men.
"We have to face reality and whatever we think in terms of morals, sex education has to start before the young people become sexually active. It has to also recognise diversity in sexual orientation," he said.
"Putting our heads in the sand doesn't work and may favour the spread of the virus."
In 1976, Piot was a 27-year-old medical graduate working in a small lab in Belgium when he helped discover the Ebola virus. He later travelled to Zaire - now the Democratic Republic of Congo - where he worked with patients infected with the virus.