Following the recent diagnosis of Ebola in Spain, John Campbell wants to know what would happen if – against the odds – a person was diagnosed with Ebola in New Zealand, and how well equipped the country is to stop further spread of the disease. He speaks to Steve McBride at Middlemore Hospital to find out more.
An extract (read in full and watch the news clip here):
As the Ebola virus spreads through parts of Africa at an increasingly terrifying rate, Europe has its first home grown case – a nurse infected in Spain after treating two patients who died from the disease.
The fact that Ebola being in Europe makes the Western world pay more attention than when it was restricted to Africa, is a shameful insight into our attitude towards African lives.
But as Ebola spreads, the world asks what is it and what will happen if, against the odds as they stand now, it arrives here?
It’s estimated more than 3500 people have been killed by the deadly virus which is the worst we’ve ever seen.
What we aren’t seeing in Africa is that if the virus is quarantined well enough, an outbreak can be stopped.