The UK should expect a "handful" of Ebola cases in the coming
months, the chief medical officer has said.Defending airport screening, Dame Sally Davies said it was a "blunt instrument" but would save lives.
She rejected criticism in a leaked email circulated to doctors that the screening was a "political gesture".
The UK held exercises earlier to test its response to an outbreak, as the US started screening some people arriving in the country.
Ebola has killed more than 4,000 people worldwide, and a UN expert has said the world will live with it "forever" unless global action stops the virus.
Dame Sally, England's chief medical officer and chief medical adviser to the UK government, said cases in Britain would be "spill-over" from West Africa.
She said the screening, due to start next week, was "unlikely" to pick up many cases - "if any" - but she said the "great advantage" would be that people would be told what symptoms to look for and what to do if they fall ill.
In an email seen by the BBC, a senior consultant said he believed the screening was "purely a political gesture, unlikely to provide public health benefits".
But Dame Sally said: "At this time, this is the right thing to do."
Dame Sally said exercises held earlier to test the UK's Ebola response was "vitally important" and would strengthen protection plans.
She said lessons would be learned from the "realistic" eight-hour exercise, which took place earlier and tested the response of emergency services and the government.
Source: BBC
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