Addis Ababa takes anti-Ebola measures

Temperature sensors installed at Addis Ababa airport

Ethiopia is using temperature-reading devices at its airports in a bid to prevent the Ebola virus from reaching the country from the west Africa region. A high-tech thermal screen designed to detect high body temperatures has been installed at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport while infrared machines are in place at other smaller Ethiopian airports.

The machines have been donated by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and can screen one person every three seconds, according to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI). Ethiopia has already set up several observation posts along its borders with neighbouring countries and has two fully-equipped quarantine facilities on standby in Addis Ababa.

The Ebola outbreak is linked to over 2,800 deaths in the west Africa region, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) which has been to the forefront in battling the virus since it began in Guinea in December 2013.

The three countries worst hit by Ebola are Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Senegal and Nigeria have been affected by the epidemic but seem to have contained the virus.