TEMPO.CO, London - A scientist who helped discover the Ebola virus said he was concerned that the disease could spread to China, allowing for the large number of Chinese workers traveling to and from Africa.
“The concern I have is that I don't think you can really stop people from traveling. These patients will show up in any country in the world, but China is quite vulnerable,” said Peter Piot, the director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as cited by the Daily Mail.
“In public hospitals in China, the ones that I've visited, the level of infection control is very poor.”
Regardless, Piot said that China's control for infectious diseases have improved since severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, broke out in southern China in 2002.
The current Ebola outbreak has in total killed around 5,000 people and infected around 10,000 others, mostly in the West African nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. It has also reached some Western nations in a very minor number, including the United States and Spain.
ANINGTIAS JATMIKA | DAILY MAIL