UK's only ebola isolation unit has just two beds in it
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Britain has just two 'ebola-proof' hospital beds, The Mail on Sunday has learnt.
Official guidance states that patients with the highly infectious disease – which has no vaccine, no cure and kills up to 90 per cent of victims – should be treated in specially built units that are biologically secure.
Yet there is only one operational High Secure Infectious Diseases Unit (HSIDU) in the UK, at the Royal Free Hospital in London. It has two beds. A second, at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, is 'being redeveloped' according to NHS England.
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Just two beds: There is only one operational High Secure Infectious Diseases Unit (HSIDU) in the UK, at the Royal Free Hospital in London. It has an array of equipment to ensure the patient did not pass on the killer virus
An ambulance arrives with Ebola victim Dr. Kent Brantly, pictured right, to Emory University Hospital, in Atlanta. Dr Brantly, infected with the Ebola virus in Africa arrived in Atlanta for treatment on Saturday
Should Britain have more than two ebola patients at any one time, they will have to be treated in less secure hospital side rooms.
Dr Stephen Mepham, an infectious diseases consultant at the Royal Free, said there would be 'no other option' but to treat ebola patients in standard isolation rooms.
He said: 'We think it is highly unlikely, but if we had more than two patients we would have to treat them in our normal isolation facilities. They are not to the same standard but we are confident we could prevent spread.'
The HSIDU, he said, had an array of equipment to ensure a patient did not pass on the killer virus, including air-lock doors and 'negative pressure' air flow to make sure nothing escapes from the unit.
The patient is kept in a sealed plastic tent, with arm mouldings so doctors and nurses can treat them without any physical contact. The tent is burnt after use in dedicated incinerators.
Guidance issued by the Department of Health and the Health and Safety Executive in 2012 states that patients with confirmed viral haemorrhagic fever – of which ebola is the most deadly type – 'should be managed in an HSIDU' to 'eliminate or minimise the risk of transmission to health care workers'.
Dr. Kent Brantly working at an Ebola treatment clinic in Foya, Liberia. Brantly and Nancy Writebol contracted the disease while working there. He arrived back in the U.S. on Saturday for treatment
America: The biologically secure unit in Atlanta, where charity volunteer Dr Kent Brantly, 33, who contracted the disease in Liberia, will be treated. Charity worker Nancy Writebol, 60, also contracted ebola while in the country
Liberia: Masked medics deal with the epidemic. According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been 729 deaths from 1,329 confirmed cases of ebola in this year's epidemic
It warns that it can 'spread readily within a hospital setting', 'has a high case-fatality rate', and 'is difficult to recognise and detect rapidly'.
An NHS England spokesman said it was 'hypothetical' to talk about Britain having more ebola cases than HSIDU beds, as there are no confirmed cases in the country.
But the situation can change rapidly. American charity volunteers Dr Kent Brantly, 33, and Nancy Writebol, 60, have contracted the virus in Liberia. Dr Brantly arrived back in the US yesterday to be treated at a special secure unit in Atlanta, Georgia. For now, Ms Writebol remains in Liberia.
Britain, like the US, has dozens of volunteers on the ebola frontline in the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
Liberians living outside Monrovia stage a protest against using their community to bury dead victims of the virus
Liberian military police are deployed at the burial site for victims of the Ebola virus in Johnsonville outside Monrovia, where youths were staging a protest against being used to bury the dead
According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO), there have been 729 deaths from 1,329 confirmed cases of ebola in this year's epidemic, the largest number ever known.
On Friday, WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said ebola was spreading 'faster than our efforts to control it'.
The Foreign Office refused to confirm if British citizens who contract the virus abroad would be flown back for treatment, saying only: 'Procedures are in place but we are not going to speculate on what we would do in any individual case.'
With up to 10,000 passengers flying into UK airports every week on 30 direct flights from West Africa, Keith Vaz, the Labour MP and chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said the country should not wait for its 'first taste of ebola' before taking tough action.
Epidemic: The ebola virus, which has killed more than 700 people so far. On Friday, WHO director general Dr Margaret Chan said ebola was spreading 'faster than our efforts to control it'
He wants ministers to consider introducing fever-screening cameras at UK airports.
South Africa, which has fewer direct flights from the region than the UK, introduced infra-red thermal imaging cameras at two major airports in April, in an early response to the ebola threat.
Last week Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria said they would be introducing temperature screening at airports.
However critics say the cameras pick up lots of 'false positives' – including people with minor illnesses and those who are hot after a dash through the airport.
Mr Vaz said: 'As far as I'm concerned any measures – including additional screening – which are felt necessary to reassure the public should be taken.
'Prevention is always better than cure: we don't want to have our first taste of ebola before taking action.'
A spokesman for NHS England said: 'There are currently no known cases of ebola in the UK, but we are confident that we have robust arrangements in place should that situation change.
'The Royal Free can routinely manage two ebola patients. There are arrangements to increase this capacity quickly should this be required. The new HSIDU at the Royal Victoria Infirmary at Newcastle is being redeveloped, but the infectious diseases unit remains open and ready to play a role.'
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