Nigeria to screen airline travelers for Ebola

ABUJA — Nigerian officials say they are screening passengers arriving from foreign countries for symptoms of Ebola, after a traveler from Liberia died of the contagious disease in Lagos.

Aviation officials said Saturday they are screening passengers arriving from abroad and health officials are distributing information about how to identify Ebola symptoms.

Spokesman for Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria Yakubu Dati says airports are also setting up holding rooms in case another potential Ebola victim lands in Nigeria. Doctors say health screens could be effective, but Ebola cannot be diagnosed on the spot and many symptoms are similar to more common diseases like malaria.

Plan International's head of disaster response Unni Krishnan warned that an outbreak in Lagos, Africa's largest city with 21 million people, could be disastrous.

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