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The
man who discovered Ebola says a European team of specialists trained to tackle
viral outbreaks is needed (Photo: Press Association)
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The
UK and the rest of Europe must form a group of specialists ready to tackle
outbreaks like Ebola, the man who discovered the disease almost 40 years ago
has said.
Press
Association reports Professor Peter Piot, who is currently director of the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a professor of global
health, warned that exposure to future threats from viruses would remain unless
action was taken.
He
told the Independent: "It's time the UK and Europe had a well-trained
corps of people who are globally experienced and deployable, specialists in
outbreak control but underpinned by strong research and science. We don't have
that and that makes us vulnerable."
The
Belgian professor, who discovered the virus in Zaire in 1976 while working at
the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, spoke of his shock at
the devastation the disease has caused, telling the paper he "couldn't
imagine it would get out of control".
Ebola
has claimed more than 7,000 lives in west Africa since the outbreak at the beginning
of the year.
Prof
Piot said poor health systems where the outbreak began meant a delay in
diagnosing it, but added that the staggering spread since then was
"avoidable".
The
World Health Organization has previously admitted that it was slow to deal with
the spread of the disease, declaring it an international health emergency in
August, only after around 1,000 people had died.
Of
the efforts to treat and tackle the disease in recent months Prof Piot said:
"The effort is paying off."
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