Hajj 2014: Ebola Virus Poses Threat to Mecca Pilgrimage?
By Lydia Smith
IBTimes.co.uk
October 1, 2014
It is considered the largest annual gathering of people in the world, with over two million Muslim pilgrims expected to make the sacred journey to Mecca this year. Any large gathering raises alarm bells for public health authorities, but this year’s Hajj pilgrimage poses a potential new threat.
The human toll from this year’s Ebola virus outbreak has been unprecedented. This week, the World Health Organisation announced that over 3,000 people have been killed, concentrated in the nations of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
The disease, a haemorrhagic fever, is spreading – and has reached Nigeria, one of the countries in the world with the highest concentration of Hajj pilgrims.
What is the risk of Ebola to Hajj?
Professor David Heymann, who was part of the international team who investigated the first outbreak of Ebola in the 1970s, is an expert on infectious diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Speaking to IBTimes UK, Prof Heymann said that although Ebola could be spread, it is important to remember that it is not an airborne virus.
“We know that Ebola can spread throughout the world in people who are still healthy in their incubation period, so there is a threat whenever people from this part of Africa travel to other parts of the world; there is a risk.
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