Enhanced Ebola screening begins at London airport

Officials at London’s Heathrow International Airport are beginning to screening passengers who are arriving from west African nations for symptoms of the deadly virus, Time Magazine reports. 

The move comes on the heels of a similar decision to launch extra Ebola checks at five major U.S. airports last week in the face of concern among airline passengers about the possibility of catching the disease during a commercial flight. 

Like its U.S. counterparts, London’s Heathrow airport will require check the temperature of passengers who are arriving from west African nations and require them to complete questionnaires about their travel histories, according to the report. 

ADVERTISEMENT

The checks are an attempt to reassure passengers about the safety of flying without ban flights to west Africa entirely, which has been suggested by several lawmakers in Washington. 

Health officials in the U.S. and internationally have said that a travel ban would stunt relief efforts in the west African region, and airline officials have label such a move “draconian.”