UNIVERSITIES across the UK are to begin a thorough screening of students from Nigeria and the rest of West Africa for ebola ahead of the new academic season after being instructed to do so by central authorities. Nigerian students studying for university degrees in the UK has trebled over the last eight years to a staggering 17,640 according to the latest statistics published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa)...
In data released last December, Hesa figures showed that there were 17,640 Nigerians enrolled in UK universities during the 2011/12 session, compared with 5,385 in 2003/04. Wary that with this large number could come the ebola virus, Universities UK, the umbrella body that represents vice-chancellors, has instructed all campuses to screen West African students thoroughly. So far, four Nigerians have died from the deadly ebola virus disease (EVD) and a total of 12 are reported to have been infected by the virus, that has spread fiercely across West Africa. According to official figures detailing the number of affected people and casualties, 810 people have been affected in Sierra Leone, of which 348 have died, with the corresponding statistics for Liberia and Guinea being 786/413 and 519/380 respectively. In response, Universities UK has told all vice chancellors to introduce tough screening measures ahead of the commencement of the 2014/15 academic session. Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone have very few students enrolling at UK universities but Nigeria is the fourth largest supplier of international students to UK universities.
Authorities have been instructed that any student suspected of having ebola should immediately be isolated in a side room away from any member of staff or other students. A UK Universities spokesman said: “The issue is very much on universities’ radars. We circulated to universities the publicly available guidance on the topic. “These side rooms should have dedicated en-suite facilities or at least a dedicated commode. The level of staff protection is dependent on the patient’s condition and those having any dealings with the patient must take careful hand hygiene precautions, wearing double gloves and a disposable visor." According to the guidelines given to universities, workers have been told to be aware that evidence from outbreaks strongly indicates that the main routes of transmission or infection are direct contact through broken skin or mucous membrane and indirect contact with environments contaminated with splashes or droplets of blood or body fluids. However, it added that experts agree that there is no circumstantial or epidemiological evidence of an aerosol transmission risk from patients.
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