Experts: little chance Ebola will reach Shanghai

Shanghai health experts have advised residents not to panic about the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, saying there is little possibility of the disease reaching China.

Officials from the Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission said yesterday that no cases have been detected in the city.

On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said 887 people had died of the virus in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria, and that more than 1,600 people have been infected.

While flights are considered the prime route for Ebola reaching the city, Shanghai experts downplayed concerns.

"The virus doesn't spread from the infected person to other people during its incubation period," said Dr Lu Hongzhou, a leading infectious disease expert in the city and vice president of the Shanghai Public Health Center, a designated hospital for infectious disease.

"And if someone has symptoms, it is impossible for them to take an airplane from an infected region to Shanghai under current disease prevention and control measures," said Lu.

Shanghai has only one direct flight to Africa — an Ethiopian Airlines service between Pudong International Airport and Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The east African nation is far from the outbreak on the west of the continent.

Launched on March 30, the service was operating normally yesterday.

Meanwhile, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China has asked airports to undertake stringent quarantine inspections, especially on passengers and cargo from Ebola-affected regions.

Animal product imports from affected regions have been halted, the administration said.