The Ebola virus

The grandly named Newham Health Commissioning Group which oversees health services in the London Borough of Newham in the East of the Capital, has issued a statement about the killer disease Ebola.

In a web page entitled ‘Are you worried about Ebola’ they said:

“The risk of Ebola to the general public in the UK remains low. Public Health England is continuing to work with government colleagues and NHS organisations to ensure the UK remains alert to, and prepared for, the risk of Ebola.

The UK contingency plans for Ebola have always been based on the assumption that there is a low, but nevertheless real, risk of importing a case of Ebola from West Africa. However, it is important to remember that even if a case is identified here, the UK has robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases.

The risk to UK travellers of contracting Ebola is very low and can be mitigated by simple precautions. There is a higher risk for humanitarian healthcare workers exposed to patients unless appropriate personal protective equipment is used. Specific advice has been prepared for humanitarian and health care workers.

Find out more on NHS Choices website.”

Let’s read between the lines and fisk this seemingly bland piece of prose.

“The risk of Ebola to the general public in the UK remains low. 

Yeah, right. Do you really expect us all to believe that?

Public Health England is continuing to work with government colleagues and NHS organisations to ensure the UK remains alert to, and prepared for, the risk of Ebola.

With not enough biosecurity containment level 4 treatment facilities this looks like wishful thinking on the part of PHE, the NHS and Govenment. Ebola is an organism that requires to be handled in an environment that is certified as containment level 4. I don’t think I’ve been in any NHS hospital that would meet containment level 4. What are we going to do ship all the Ebola patients to Porton Down and treat them there? If I recall correctly London’s Royal Free Hospital is the only one equipped to handle Ebola cases and even then there are less than half a dozen beds. The involvement of the NHS in this should send a shiver down anybody’s spine. Remember this is the same NHS that let staff starve and dehydrate old people to death in Stafford Hospital.

The UK contingency plans for Ebola have always been based on the assumption that there is a low, but nevertheless real, risk of importing a case of Ebola from West Africa.

Now why would that be? Could it have anything to do with the ‘I’ (Immigration) word that many of politicians dare not speak? There are shedloads of people travelling back and forth between Newham and West Africa all the time. Newham is also a destination of choice for illegal immigrants coming from all over the world because of the ease which a person can disappear in that borough. With this in mind I’d say that the risk of Ebola turning up in Newham is a bit more than ‘low’.

However, it is important to remember that even if a case is identified here, the UK has robust, well-developed and well-tested NHS systems for managing unusual infectious diseases.

Ha, ha, ha. I’m splitting my sides here, not because of Ebola or anything like that, but because I wouldn’t trust the NHS or its systems to treat an ingrowing toenail let alone manage a fearful disease like Ebola. The NHS in Newham cannot even effectively manage the growing number of Tuberculosis cases in the area, many of which have been brought to the area by immigrants.

The risk to UK travellers of contracting Ebola is very low and can be mitigated by simple precautions.

This statement is one that can truly be described as ‘hope over experience’. There are many people in Newham who on a regular basis travel to and from West Africa. Quite a few of them have cultural customs, such as washing the bodies of the dead, that make it more likely that the disease will be passed on. Newham has quite a few non-English speakers and it is unlikely that illegal immigrants, fearful of being deported, will approach either healthcare workers or any Ebola surveillance workers that may be deployed. Another problem affecting Newham, and other immigrant-heavy East London boroughs, is the ongoing sale of illegal ‘bushmeat’ some of which comes from non-human primates and bats which can be a reservoir for Ebola. Because Bushmeat is illegal the health authorities have no way of determining whether or not this meat is effectively cooked, which would reduce the risk of Ebola or raw or partially cooked. Bushmeat is East London’s ticking Ebola time-bomb.

There is a higher risk for humanitarian healthcare workers exposed to patients unless appropriate personal protective equipment is used. Specific advice has been prepared for humanitarian and health care workers.

Again this part of the statement from the health commissioners is something we can safely file in the box marked ‘total bollocks’. Have you seen the sort of equipment that local healthcare workers in Africa are using do deal with Ebola? If you have not then they are certainly not anything like Level 4 biosecurity. A lot of the media reports I’ve seen show health workers in nothing more than basic Tyvek overalls, latex gloves and a face mask and they are armed with little more than common or garden bleach with which to stop the spread of infection from the cadavers that are piling up in the hospitals. It’s plain to see that appropriate infection control and personal protective equipment is not being used or is not available.

Find out more on NHS Choices website.”

NHS Choices! I’d rather consult some half trained drunken witch-doctor than them. They are alright if you have something minor like an itchy anus but I wouldn’t use them for anything serious or important.

This statement from the health commissioners seems purposely designed to calm people down and as you can see can be easily de-constructed.