With increasingly more cases - for now, largely isolated - of suspicious Ebola infections reported out of Africa and around the globe, it was only a matter of time before one of the world's most densely populated megapolises at 17,024 people per square mile, Hong Kong, raised the alarm as well. Which it did moments ago when Hong Kong's Centre for Health Protection said on Sunday that a man from Nigeria is being tested for the deadly Ebola virus at Princess Margaret Hospital. If confirmed, it will be the first case of the disease in Asia.
From Xinhua [3]:
The 31-year-old who had been vomiting and suffering from diarrhea -- both symptoms of the disease -- arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday.
He was sent to the hospital from ChungKing Mansions where he had been staying at a guesthouse.
More than 900 people have died in the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The World Health Organization has described the outbreak as a global emergency and the worst in four decades.
Hong Kong's RTHK adds [4], that the 31-year-old Nigerian man showed symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea after arriving in Hong Kong on Aug. 7. He was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital from ChungKing Mansions in Hong Kong’s Kowloon area, before being transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital.
And from the ground:
Ebola test chaos: Possible media confusion over negative MERS case reported by Hong Kong CHP this morning, & ongoing Ebola testing tonight?
— Ivan Broadhead (@ivanbroadhead) August 10, 2014 [5]
The result of his blood test is expected in several hours, although one would wonder what is more important in this case: avoiding a wholesale panic (see Fukushima) or releasing the ever so slightly non-GAAP truth.
Meanwhile in the UK, border staff threaten to strike over risk of deadly Ebola entering the UK reports the Daily Star [6]:
Border Force staff at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports are furious no measures have been put in place to preserve their health.
An insider told the Daily Star Sunday: “There is panic. It takes one person to come into this country with Ebola and all hell will break loose.
“Workers are being told to look for passengers who appear unwell and to raise the alarm immediately. But given how dangerous it seems to be, that doesn’t seem enough.
“People are scared and you can’t blame them. Many aren’t confident we are going to be kept safe and this has led to strike talk among some staff.”
Perhaps it is not too late to let TEPCO management deal with the Ebola epidemic considering their bang up job with Fukushima [7], or rather the cover-up effort, not anything else per se.
