AN EXERCISE will be held in Gloucestershire to ensure organisations are prepared in the case of Ebola spreading to the area.

Gloucestershire Local Resilience Forum will host a table top exercise to test plans already in place for how a case of the fatal disease would be handled.

The risk of contracting Ebola is very low in the UK but the forum believe if a case were to occur it would be essential that all organisations involved could communicate with each other quickly, efficiently and responsibly.

Peter Brambleby, Director of Public Health at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The purpose of this exercise is to make sure that all the organisations are prepared for handling a case of Ebola should we need to, but I’d like to reassure people that the likelihood of catching Ebola in the UK is very low.”

Ebola is a serious disease for which there are no licensed treatments or vaccines.

The outbreak in western Africa has been widely reported in the media and nationally there have been plans for dealing with this type of disease for some time. Since the outbreak these plans have been revised and will be tested by the forum.

Mr Brambleby said: “It’s sensible for us to be on the front foot and be prepared for everything, which is why holding this exercise is a good idea. We’re all very confident that the responses already in place are efficient, but this will give us an opportunity to guarantee that we will do everything possible in the unlikely event of a case.”

Organisations involved in the exercise include Public Health England, Gloucestershire Care Services, Gloucestershire Police, Gloucestershire County Council, district councils, Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust and more.

The exercise will be held on Friday, October 24, in Brockworth.