Headlines: How Deadly Ebola has Spread Across the Globe

Fears of a global Ebola pandemic are 'justified' an expert has said as Nigerian health officials try to trace 30,000 people at risk of contracting the deadly disease following the death of Patrick Sawyer.

The U.S. citizen boarded a flight in Liberia carrying the disease to Nigeria, potentially infecting 'anyone on the same plane'.

 

It comes as Nigerian actor Jim Iyke sparked outrage, posting a picture of himself wearing an Ebola mask while sitting in a first class airport lounge as he fled Liberia.

 

Hong Kong woman quarantined when she fell ill after returning from Kenya 

Expert claims panic over death of U.S. man in Nigeria is 'justified'

He warned the spread of Ebola could become a global pandemic

Health campaigners petition U.S. drug authorities to fast-track potential cure

Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond declares disease is 'very serious threat'

He will chair an emergency meeting on how to boost defences

British airlines are also on 'red alert' for cases of the deadly virus

Man with 'feverish' symptoms tested for deadly Ebola at Birmingham hospital

He had travelled into Midlands from Benin, Nigeria via France when he fell ill

Charing Cross Hospital staff also feared man had Ebola symptoms this week

No cases have been confirmed in UK but 672 people have died in West Africa

Warning issued to GPs, A&E departments and all NHS trusts across the UK

Symptoms include high fever, bleeding and damage to the nervous system

The 'Nollywood' star posted a message on his Instagram page saying he had cut short a business trip to Monrovia in Liberia -  where at least 600 people have already died from the disease.

 

The death toll for this, the worst outbreak recorded since the Ebola virus was discovered in 1976, stands at 672, while more than 1,200 people have been infected.

 

Since then victims have succumbed to the incurable illness, which starts with flu-like symptoms before evolving to cause catastrophic internal bleeding, in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

 

But it was the death of a U.S. citizen in the Nigerian captial of Lagos on Friday, that has prompted fears the disease could be on the brink of spreading to the West, as experts warn it could be carried across international borders by air travellers.

 

Mr Sawyer, a consultant for Liberia's Finance Ministry, died on Friday after arriving at Lagos airport on June 20, having vomited and suffered diarrhoea on two flights.

The 40-year-old U.S. citizen had been to the funeral of his sister, who also died from the disease.

 

A woman quarantined at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong has tested negative for the disease, despite returning from a trip to Kenya with Ebola-like symptoms.

 

Meanwhile two suspected patients in the UK have also tested negative.

But the panic sparked by Mr Sawyer's death is 'justified' says Dr Derek Gatherer of the University of Lancaster, claiming the virus is as infectious as flu.

He warned each person infected with the disease could spread the virus to at least two other people.

 

'Anyone on the same plane could have become infected because Ebola is easy to catch,' he said.

 

'It can be passed on through vomiting, diarrhoea or even from simply saliva or sweat - as well as being sexually transmitted.

 

'That is why there is such alarm over Mr Sawyer because he became ill on the flight so anyone else sharing the plane could have been infected by his vomit or other bodily fluids.'

 

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) echoed the concerns, warning the crisis gripping West Africa will only get worse, adding it is impossible to rule out the disease spreading to other countries.

 

Bart Janssens, MSF's director of operations, warned there was no overarching vision of how to tackle the outbreak, in an interview with La Libre Belgique newspaper.

 

'This epidemic is unprecedented, absolutely out of control and the situation can only get worse, because it is still spreading, above all in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in some very important hotspots,' he said.

 

'We are extremely worried by the turn of events, particularly in these two countries where there is a lack of visibility on the epidemic.

 

'If the situation does not improve fairly quickly, there is a real risk of new countries being affected.

'That is certainly not ruled out, but it is difficult to predict, because we have never known such an epidemic.'

 

DailyMail