Airlines have cancelled more than a third of international flights to three west African countries over fears that an outbreak of the Ebola virus could spread, as more African countries introduce measures to block visitors from affected areas.
Of 590 monthly flights scheduled to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, 216 have been cancelled, according to OAG, an airline data provider. Although 14 cases of Ebola have been reported in Nigeria, flights to and from the country have not been affected.
African countries are rolling out measures to stop Ebola from spreading: South Africa on Thursday banned travellers from Ebola-stricken countries from entering the country, and on Friday Senegal announced it was closing its border with Guinea as a preventative measure, while Chad said it had closed its border with Nigeria.
Nigeria confirmed two new ebola cases on Friday – both spouses of medical workers who had direct contact with Liberian-American Patrick Sawyer, who flew into Nigeria last month with the virus and infected 11 others before he died in July. The male and female caregivers both subsequently died of Ebola, after infecting their spouses.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is concerned that the scale of the outbreak has been underestimated especially in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and that many people with Ebola symptoms have not been identified.
Over the past two weeks new treatment centres in Liberia have been overwhelmed as soon as they opened by patients who had not previously been identified.
In a situation assessment issued on Friday, WHO said this had “never before been seen in an Ebola outbreak”, and said that it suggested “an invisible caseload of patients” was going undetected by the government.
Air Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria’s Arik Air, Togo’s ASKY Airlines, British Airways, Emirates Airlines and Kenya Airways have together cancelled a combined 76 scheduled flights to Guinea, 70 to Liberia and 70 to Sierra Leone.
Kenya Airways on Tuesday became the latest airline to freeze routes to Liberia and Sierra Leone after Kenya’s ministry of health recommended a temporary ban, calling the Ebola outbreak “vastly underestimated” and saying it was “expected to continue for some time”.
With fears growing that quarantining the affected countries will damage their economies and increase food shortages, WHO has urged airlines to keep routes to west Africa operational, saying it ”does not recommend any ban on international travel or trade”.
It said: “Travel restrictions and active screening of passengers on arrival at sea ports, airports or ground crossings in non-affected countries that do not share borders with affected countries are not currently recommended by WHO.”
Riots broke out in a slum in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, on Wednesday as residents desperate for food rations battled police. The World Food Programme (WFP) said that about 1 million people are facing food shortages because of quarantines around the region.
Air France, which has not suspended any flights, said it requires passengers in Conakry in Guinea, Freetown in Sierra Leone and Lagos in Nigeria to have their temperature taken before boarding an aircraft. “They are only given their boarding card if no medical symptoms are present,” a spokeswoman said. Other airlines have taken similar precautions.
Air France crews refused to board flights destined for Ebola-affected countries this week, rasing concerns that it could scrap routes.
Brussels Airlines, the only European carrier to serve all three affected countries, said it would continue flights, while Dutch airline KLM said, “travellers are highly unlikely to be infected with Ebola, which cannot be transmitted under normal hygiene conditions”.
British Airways, which announced on 5 August that it would suspend its service to Sierra Leone and Liberia, has said it would review the severity of the Ebola outbreak at the end of this month.
About 1,350 people are thought to have died from the Ebola outbreak since it began in March, according to WHO.
David Nabarro, the UN’s recently appointed system coordinator on Ebola, arrived in Monrovia this week as part of a trip to affected countries. He is also scheduled to visit Freetown, Conakry and Abuja in Nigeria.
WHO said on Friday it was working on a six to nine-month plan designed to ease the Ebola outbreak.
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