Isn't it time to stop all flights to Africa?

Ebola, a viral hemorrhagic fever with a death rate of over 90%, is affecting 4 countries in west Africa. It started in Guinea and then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. In Guinea 319 out of 427 patients have died, in Liberia 129 out of 249 and in Sierra Leone 224 out of 525 patients have died. Last week a Liberian Finance Ministry official, Patrick Sawyer flew onto Lagos in Nigeria where he was found to be suffering from the disease and died. There was panic in Britain yesterday when a man travelling in Africa returned with a fever. He was cleared of the infection. Like most viral infections it has an incubation period of up to 21 days and starts with nonspecific symptoms of cold and cough. At this time the patient will be contagious and spread the disease just like the H1N1 swine flu which started in India in 2009 and was still killing people last year. People wipe their noses with their hands and then touch objects such as door handles, shake hands or sneeze without covering their noses. Since you do not know who is infected there is no defense. The cleaner of the school bus could infect your child, the fellow selling movie tickets could infect your daughter and the helpful shop assistant could infect you. People have been infected at funerals. There is no treatment or vaccine. Animals act as reservoirs. The virus jumps to humans who handle animal flesh or blood. Africans eat bush meat, which could be monkeys or bats, but we Indians are very selective about the meat we eat and about 50% of Indians are vegetarians. It would be a crime to allow this disease to enter India where it is sure to spread like wild fire because of the enormous population we have. In Africa, because of repeated outbreaks, they have knowledge of how to limit spread of the infection. You see doctors and nurses covered from head to toe in space suits while health workers wear masks, overalls, gloves and rubber boots. But has anyone seen such protective clothing in India? The US has the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta which is fully equipped to handle the most dangerous pathogens and identify them. It has a budget of $11.3 billion this year. Our only hope is to stop all flights to Africa, at least to west African countries. Ever increasing numbers of poor people means that Indians are willing to go to the most God forsaken places on earth to earn some money. So there will be Indians in the affected countries and they will be cut off as well. If such people want to return to India they should be collected at one place where they will be tested and special fights can bring healthy ones home. Infected people would be treated on site. One infected person coming into India could lead to a catastrophe. Do politicians and civil servants read foreign news?