EU holds high-level meeting on Ebola

EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg and Italian Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin, whose country holds the current EU Presidency, have called a high-level meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss Ebola.
The focus will be on a presentation of possible options for enhanced and coordinated entry screening procedures at EU airports, said an European Commission statement.
Reports of the first case of Ebola contracted in the EU have underlined the need to have all possible means of prevention and preparedness in place in Europe, it noted.
The current Ebola outbreak affecting the West Africa region is the worst such outbreak on record. The World Health Organisation has declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, calling for a coordinated international response.
As of 10 October, there have been more than 8399 reported cases, including 4033 deaths from the disease.
To date, 10 patients have been repatriated to Europe with confirmed or suspected Ebola.
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness. EVD outbreaks occur primarily in remote villages in Central and West Africa, near tropical rain forests but in the current outbreak the disease has also spread to urban places.
Some Ebola outbreaks have a fatality rate of up to 90 percent. In the current outbreak EVD is fatal in 45-70 percent (average 60 percent) of the people who fall ill.