Man without protective equipment seen helping Ebola patient onto plane

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A man has been filmed helping an Ebola patient onto a plane without wearing any protective equipment.

The unnamed man is seen on the tarmac at a US airport as nurse Amber Vinson, who is being treated for Ebola, is helped aboard the aircraft.

He is seen surrounded by four other figures who are all wearing personal protective equipment.

ITV News

Carrying a clipboard, he appears to make contact with other workers who have been escorting the nurse.

ITV News

US officials are in the process of contacting passengers on a commercial flight Vinson took last week from Cleveland to Dallas before realising she had contracted Ebola.

ITV News

According to the World Health Organisation, Ebola is contracted as a result of direct contact through broken skin or mucous membranes with the blood or other bodily fluids of infected people.

Infection can also occur if broken skin or mucous membranes of a healthy person come into contact with objects such as soiled clothing, bed linen, or needles used by an infected person.

So long as the appropriate protective clothing and isolation measures are taken, there is a very low risk to those treating Ebola patients.