[Media Reports] China’s Guangzhou, Popular African Destination, Worried About Ebola

By Josh Chin for China Real Time

A Chinese city that has been ground zero for outbreaks including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and bird flu is now on guard against a disease more frightening than either of those.

The southern metropolis of Guangzhou has instituted precautionary measures to protect the city against the spread of the deadly Ebola virus, the state-run China Daily said Friday. Since February, the world has been faced with one of the worst Ebola outbreaks in recent memory, with more than 1,300 people in West Africa infected and at least 729 killed.

The virus, which can kill as many as 90% of those it infects, has mostly struck Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but has shown signs of spreading to Nigeria. Now, China is worried it may hit Guangzhou – a fear that appears in part to stem from the city’s large population of African expats, many of them traders from Nigeria and other West African countries who’ve set up shop in bustling market zone that taxi drivers and other Chinese residents refer to as “Chocolate City.” [KEEP READING HERE]