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A woman was taken from her home in Tyrrelstown and brought to the Mater Hospital with a suspected case of Ebola. She later tested negative. Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

The chances of Ebola reaching Ireland? 'Very low'

That’s according to the National Public Health Emergency Team.

THE NATIONAL PUBLIC Health Emergency Team (NHPET) has met to discuss the likelihood of Ebola reaching Ireland.

The NHPET has said, as the European Centres for Disease Prevention and Control recently concluded that the risk of a case in the EU is low, the risk of transmission of Ebola in Ireland remains “very low”.

During yesterday’s meeting, the team was informed of the preparedness of Irish hospitals in dealing with Ebola, should they need to.

Hospitals regularly take part in training in relation to infectious diseases and this now includes specific information sessions on Ebola.

Relevant hospitals have appointed local Ebola co-ordinators to manage issues related to the virus and some have already practised dry runs for dealing with infected patients.

All acute hositals have been sent guidelines on the following subjects:

  • The availability of appropriate personal protective equipment in the hospital, and staff awareness of its use
  • Protocols to ensure that all patients presenting with fever are asked at the earliest opportunity (i.e. at registration) about any recent travel history
  • Guidance to minimise the risk of cross-infection
  • Awareness to ensure that on-call clinical and triage staff are aware of the appropriate procedures/risk assessment processes
  • Protocols to identify the contact details for the National Isolation Unit where there is a high-risk case of Ebola infection and a referral is required
  • Awareness across hospitals about the specific ambulance transfer procedure for Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers including Ebola
  • Instructions to all hospitals on communication with GPs on referrals

There have been about 9,000 cases of Ebola to date. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported 4,493 deaths.

WHO declared both Senegal and Nigeria to be Ebola free on Monday.

A New York-based doctor who recently returned from West Africa has become the fourth person in the US to test positive for the virus, while a Spanish nurse who was the first person to catch the virus outside of Africa has been cured.

Earlier this week, a woman who had displayed symptoms of the virus tested negative for Ebola at the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

Read: Is Ireland prepared to deal with Ebola? Doctors aren’t convinced

Confirmed: 23 tests for Ebola performed on 14 people in Ireland

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30 Comments
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    Mute Maria Hickey-Fagan
    Favourite Maria Hickey-Fagan
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:40 PM

    Here’s what I remember. January has been about 79 days long

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    Mute fibradshaw
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:09 PM

    @Maria Hickey-Fagan:

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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jan 28th 2018, 3:31 AM

    @fibradshaw:

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jan 28th 2018, 2:13 PM

    @Maria Hickey-Fagan: fun fact: this January is actually longer than the entirety of 2017.

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    Mute John Doe
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:04 PM

    I hope Leo’s bank overcharge him… see if it takes over 10 yrs to get his money back, 3 or more of which are since the “errors” were discovered. (Still waiting btw)

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    Mute Patabake Kennedy
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:12 PM

    My pocket remembers that it never handed out as much money for coal as it did, so far, this year.

    52
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    Mute Honeybee
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:38 PM

    @Patabake Kennedy: You and me both Patacake, gas bill from 2nd Nov to15th January 478 euro, damn vat, standing charges and public service charges levy, it was freezing through Christmas, 100 euro in taxes for trying to stay warm.

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    Mute Patabake Kennedy
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    Jan 28th 2018, 1:19 AM

    @Honeybee: Ouch, and the rest of the winter to come. those auld levies don’t help either. Ah well, we are used to it by now, maybe the spring might bring a bit of relief.

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    Mute Drew P. Baulsach
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    Jan 28th 2018, 1:41 AM

    @Honeybee: its so cold I saw a politician with his hands in his own pocket!

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    Mute David Dickson
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    Jan 28th 2018, 3:37 AM

    @Drew P. Baulsach: you are lucky to live to tell such a tale.

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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jan 28th 2018, 2:25 PM

    @Honeybee: feeling your pain. ESB bill just in at €392 for two months because of crap storage heaters on top of my extortionate rent. Ah Leo’s republic of opportunities.

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    Mute Honeybee
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    Jan 28th 2018, 3:20 PM

    @Deborah Behan: Painful Deborah, now I know what my own electric bill will look like when it falls due in a fortnight, thank God the days are getting brighter and hopefully a little warmer so we can get a bit of respite from chronic charges for necessities,it’s bad enough trying to keep bills reasonable without the added taxes on bills , government profiting on people struggling and no amount of carbon taxes etc will make a blind bit of difference, doesn’t seem to matter which form of heating we have, it’s all too expensive, my elderly neighbours just ordered an oil fill, they said normally they would have lasted to February/March but weather has been so cold they have used it up.

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    Mute Batster
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    Jan 27th 2018, 9:23 PM

    Unfortunately all of it

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    Mute Maggie O'Connor
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:02 PM

    9/10

    13
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    Mute Deborah Behan
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    Jan 28th 2018, 2:27 PM

    @Maggie O’Connor: same. Goes to show you how broke I’ve been that I have to actually pay attention!

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    Mute Tony O'Regan
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    Jan 28th 2018, 8:09 AM

    So Leo is the only Irish person I know of who has a 40 year mortgage!

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    Mute Stipe Miocic
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:56 PM

    7. Flipping Good

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Jan 27th 2018, 10:13 PM

    8/10.

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    Mute Siobhán Ni Mhurchú
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    Jan 27th 2018, 11:05 PM

    Baaaaad

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    Mute Teresa Ryan
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    Jan 28th 2018, 11:37 AM

    Bugger 9/10. I accidently hit the wrong on the Dolores O’Riordan question

    Damn.

    7
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