THE Department of Health has
undertaken to increase the
number of people working at
South African airports to stop the
Ebola virus from entering South Africa.
This is after SA’s Ebola screening was
called into question recently when
travellers arriving at OR Tambo Airport
in Johannesburg reported entering the
country without any Ebola checks.
A passenger travelling on a KLM
flight said nobody at the airport was
present to collect the Department of
Health forms that had been handed
out by cabin crew. He added that the
fever screen that scanned the faces of
arriving passengers was operative but
not manned.
Owner of Houston Travel Marketing,
Derek Houston, relates a similar story:
“I flew into OR Tambo on a Saturday
night at midnight and the forms were
handed out at the passport control
area. There was only a very young
official on duty – obviously not a
medical person – who received the
forms but did not read them. The fever
scan was working.
“This Ebola check contrasted
badly with the checks in Uganda and
Tanzania, which were very stringent,
with medical personnel
checking temperatures and
asking questions. Also Maputo
and Harare had very good
checks.”
When alerted to the
problems, Health Department
spokesperson, Joe Maila,
responded: “We have
noted with concern reports
that suggest that health
questionnaire forms are not
taken back from travellers as
expected.
“We have since
communicated this concern
to officials at the airports and
we believe the matter is now
resolved. We will also increase
the number of people working
at the airport to ensure that
surveillance efforts are not
compromised at all.”
Frew Benson, chief director
of communicable diseases
for the Department of Health,
adds: “It is the duty of
port health officials to man
screening points at all times.
Questionnaires are collected
from travellers from high-risk
countries by port health and
not immigration officials.”
Alerted to the incidents, Acsa
said the Health Department
was responsible for screening
processes for Ebola and other
communicable diseases.
“The company’s international
airports are working with
health officials to make sure
that the correct measures are
taken to effectively protect our
airports and our airport users,”
Acsa said in a statement.
Lucille Blumberg, deputy
director for the Division of
Public Health Surveillance and
Response at the NICD, told
TNW the fever screen was
generally manned 24 hours
a day, so the above incident
should be considered an
exception.
Lucille says the KLM
flight originating from The
Netherlands is not considered
a high-risk flight in terms of
Ebola. She assured TNW
that flights originating from
West Africa were checked
meticulously.
Not foolproof
However, Lucille points out that
screening passengers for fever
on arrival is not a foolproof
test. She says if passengers
just take a Panado they will
not show signs of fever and
will pass effortlessly through
the screening. Also, the
forms will only provide limited
information, as travellers can
easily lie when answering the
questions.
Educating health care
professionals across the
country to recognise Ebola
symptoms and to ask the right
questions when confronted by
patients is just as important
– if not more important – than
airport screening, Lucille says.
In Europe, health officials
have decided not to screen
people for Ebola at airports
and rather rely on their health
systems to isolate and stop
the spread of the deadly
virus as and when it appears.
Authorities in Europe report
that screening would be
ineffective and disruptive.
This view has also been
expressed by the World Health
Organisation.
Meanwhile, the United
States has started screening
passengers arriving from
Sierra Leone, Liberia and
Guinea. The UK, too, has
begun screening passengers
from high-risk countries.
“There are no perfect
measures but I can assure
you that we have every
measure in place to protect
South Africa and its citizens,”
Lucille says.
