Doctor at CDC Ebola safety course in Alabama
Doctor at CDC Ebola safety course in AlabamaReuters

The Airports Authority is gearing up to keep the Ebola virus from entering Israel, following a discussion of the international health emergency in the Prime Minister's Office Sunday.

The instructions to all authorities are to prevent unmonitored entry of passengers from countries with a high risk of spreading the Ebola disease.

The Airports Authority has prepared quarantine rooms in all of the international airports and border crossings into Israel. Patients about whom there is a suspicion of Ebola infection will be taken to the quarantine rooms, and will be transported from there by Magen David Adom ambulances to hospitals.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened a special hearing at his office Sunday morning, on the subject of the spread of the Ebola virus. This meeting, following another discussion last week, aims to examine the progress made by state authorities in the case an Ebola-stricken individual arrives in Israel.

The hearing was attended by representatives of the Ministries of Health, Transportation, Interior, Foreign Affairs and Justice, as well as the Israel Airports Authority, Israeli Police and the Israeli Defense Forces. The representatives have decided to focus attention on prevention. The plan is to question passengers arriving in Israel, at all border crossings, particularly those arriving from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone – centers where the deadly epidemic has spread quickly.

"Israel is prepared to prevent the entry of Ebola patients into our borders as part of the sustained effort we are making to protect the borders," Netanyahu said during the meeting.

"This is a global epidemic and we are cooperating with other countries. If Ebola patients do arrive within our borders, we are taking a number of steps to isolate patients, and of course to take care of them through our health system. We hope there will be no need for it, but we are prepared for any eventuality.”