--- title: Heathrow Airport Starts Ebola Screenings description: England's Heathrow airport began screening passengers coming from at-risk countries for Ebola Tuesday. canonical: https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-14T11:43:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:28.830Z article:section: Health og:title: Heathrow Airport Starts Ebola Screenings og:description: A health official says he expects a "handful" of cases to enter the UK og:url: https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5e7e34287821a9f/698760943c16395bc944f061/heathrow-london-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3674 og:image:height: 2067 og:image:alt: Ebola screening to begin at London's Heathrow Airport og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Heathrow Airport Starts Ebola Screenings twitter:description: A health official says he expects a "handful" of cases to enter the UK twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5e7e34287821a9f/698760943c16395bc944f061/heathrow-london-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Heathrow Airport Starts Screening for Ebola > Sponsored content. 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Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=4c78c8f4-0733-4e07-9ecf-f25caf2b420f&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Science Cop: Ebola Fear Mongers [Watch (HLS stream): Science Cop: Ebola Fear Mongers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Fwl31d5e.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2014-10-10. TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kulger takes on the media figures stirring up panic in the aftermath of the ebola outbreak._ by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Oct 14, 2014 11:43 AM UTC  Passengers walk at Heathrow Airport in London on Oct. 14, 2014. Passengers walk at Heathrow Airport in London on Oct. 14, 2014. Andy Rain—EPA by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Oct 14, 2014 11:43 AM UTC England’s Heathrow airport began [screening](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29604184) passengers for Ebola Tuesday. Arrivals from at-risk countries in West Africa will be subject to filling out a questionnaire and having their temperature taken before the process gets rolled out to other terminals within Heathrow and then other airports including Gatwick and Eurostar. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that although the UK’s Ebola risk is low, he expects a “handful” of cases to enter the region, [the BBC reports](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-29604184). Health officials said anyone suspected to have Ebola will be taken to a hospital, while those who are asymptomatic but high-risk, having reported prior contact with patients, will receive daily follow-ups. Journalist Sorious Samura, who traveled back from Monrovia, Liberia, through Brussels and into Heathrow, told [_The Guardian_](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/14/ebola-screenings-heathrow-airport-mixed-response) that he underwent the screening — but noted that it was optional. “I could have just come throughout without any screening. That is how scary it is,” he said. “They asked for various details, about the symptoms, whether you experienced any of the symptoms, did you experience headaches, vomiting and things like that, and then they did my temperature using the normal equipment that you put in someone’s ear.” “\[The screening\] appears not to be a scientific decision but a political one,” Dr. Ron Behrens from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told [_The Telegraph_, ](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11160038/Ebola-crisis-huge-disruption-expected-at-Heathrow-as-screening-begins.html)noting that it will benefit few but disrupt “large numbers of people.” Health Secretary Hunt [said](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/ebola/11160038/Ebola-crisis-huge-disruption-expected-at-Heathrow-as-screening-begins.html) that approximately 89% of people entering the UK from impacted regions would get checked, since some might take an indirect route in the airport that avoids the screening area. He added, “This government’s first priority is the safety of the British people.” _Read next:_ [_Ebola Health Care Workers Face Hard Choices_](http://time.com/3502002/ebola-liberia-sierra-leone-doctors-nurses/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ## Transcript Ebola in America . >> Out of control . >> Killer disease >> Spreading fast >> Ebola >> On the backs of ISIS >> There's a lot of panic >> Chilling, deadly, dangerous >> Scarier by the moment >> Shut down the flights, secure the borders . >> By now you've heard about Americas Ebola crisis, the disease has landed on our shores and a few blown epidemic is on the way. That's scary stuff, but almost none of it is true. And here's why. [ MUSIC ] There's no denying that Ebola is a terrifying disease. The current outbreak has struck about 7, 500 people in Africa so far. And almost half have died. The nature of that death with organs breaking down and bleeding out is one of the worst kinds of suffering imaginable. But put simply Ebola is not a easy virus to contract, while a disease like flu can be spread by shaking hands with someone who is infected, Ebola is spread by direct contact with bodily fluid such as the blood of vomit of someone who is infected. And symptomatic. A victim who was infected but not yet showing symptoms will typically not transmit the disease. But you won't hear that from the fear mongers, some of whom support clamping down on travel to and from the affected areas in Africa, which is exactly the wrong thing to do. According to the centers for disease control that would make it harder to get doctors and medical supplies back and fourth perhaps crippling efforts to wipe out the disease at its source and while cable news speculates that a terrorist infected with Ebola could board mass transit and spread the disease to everyone on board that could happen only if all of the passengers sat patiently. While the terrorist went from one to another, and bled or vomited on each, with their full cooperation. So, should we be afraid of Ebola? Of course. It's a very lethal and very ugly disease. But is America in any immediate danger? [ MUSIC ] No. Our real job is to care for the people who were infected, sensibly protect those who aren't, and lend our considerable resources to battling the disease in Africa, where people have no time for this silly luxury of fear mongers [ UNKNOWN ] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/"},"headline":"Heathrow Airport Starts Screening for Ebola","datePublished":"2014-10-14T11:43:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:28.830Z","description":"A health official says he expects a \"handful\" of cases to enter the UK","url":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/","keywords":["ebola","health","uk","infectious diseases"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5e7e34287821a9f/698760943c16395bc944f061/heathrow-london-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5e7e34287821a9f/698760943c16395bc944f061/heathrow-london-ebola.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ebola screening to begin at London's Heathrow Airport","caption":"Ebola screening to begin at London's Heathrow Airport","creditText":"Andy Rain—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/","name":"Heathrow Airport Starts Screening for Ebola"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Airports To Begin Ebola Screenings","description":"Airports To Begin Ebola Screenings","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/oEffwsLQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-12T13:34:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/oEffwsLQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/","duration":"PT2M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Science Cop: Ebola Fear Mongers","description":"TIME's Science Cop Jeffrey Kulger takes on the media figures stirring up panic in the aftermath of the ebola outbreak.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Fwl31d5e/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-10-10T20:03:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Fwl31d5e.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/","duration":"PT2M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3505660/heathrow-airport-ebola/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```