An expert in tropical diseases has said Scotland is well prepared in the event the deadly ebola virus reaches the area.
The killer disease has been wreaking havoc in West Africa and fears have been raised of a possible mass outbreak in Europe.
Professor Alan Fairlamb of Dundee University said that East Scotland was extremely well prepared in case of an outbreak, but added that the tropical disease is actually more difficult to contract than the common flu virus.
The academic, who works at the College of Life Sciences, said: “Ebola disease is caused by a single-stranded RNA virus.
“Its method of being transmitted from one patient to another is only through direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids.
“Under normal circumstances, shaking hands with an ebola sufferer would not lead you to get infected.
“It is not as infectious as the flu virus for example. It is readily inactivated by simple measures like washing your hands with soap and water.
“We have great and very efficient public health measures to isolate and quarantine individuals who do get the disease.
“You are only infectious just as the symptoms start generally speaking about five to seven days after you’ve contracted the disease so it is very easy to rapidly back track and identify any individuals who may have come in to contact in this infectious period and put them under quarantine as well.”
The Dundee University professor also warned that the “worried well” people who have flu but may think they have ebola could pose a strain on health services.
“I suppose the thing that will cause more concern is what we call the ‘worried well’, somebody who gets a headache, fever and muscle pains.
“Normally you would suggest those symptoms are flu, but I can imagine some people will think they have got ebola.”
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said that, while the risk of an ebola outbreak in Scotland remained low, they were prepared.
Dr Gordon Birnie, associate medical director of acute services division for NHS Fife, added: “Staff are aware of the national guidance and have the equipment and training to deal with the assessment of patients suspected of having ebola.”
Dundee and St Andrews universities said they were following Government guidelines and remaining vigilant.