LISTEN: Automated calls sent to residents telling them neighbour has deadly Ebola virus
HUNDREDS of people received an automated phone call letting them know one of their neighbours was suffering from the deadly and infectious Ebola disease.
The message, which was pre-recorded in a monotone, was heard by people living in a four-block radius to a US nurse who tested positive for the virus.
The call said the second person to contract Ebola in Dallas, Texas was "in the hospital and isolated" and there was no "ongoing" danger to their health.
The latest victim, believed to be a female, was working at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital and helping to look after Thomas Duncan.
Mr Duncan, 42, who caught the virus in his native Liberia died last Wednesday after becoming the first person diagnosed with Ebola in America.
Please be advised that a heath care worker who lives in your area has tested positive for Ebola
The automated message said: "Please be advised that a heath care worker who lives in your area has tested positive for Ebola.
"This individual is in the hospital and isolated.
"Precautions are already in process to clean all known potential areas of contact to ensure public health.
"While this may be concerning, there is no ongoing danger to your health. The virus does not spread through casual contact."
The news comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the Ebola outbreak is the "most severe acute health emergency in modern times".
City of Dallas Texas is calling residents alerting them to the Ebola virus - LoneWolf Sager
Director-general Margaret Chan said the epidemic had proved "the world is ill-prepared to respond to any severe, sustained, and threatening public health emergency".
The WHO recently said this year's Ebola outbreak had killed some 4,033 people and almost 8,400 cases have been reported.
It has focused in west Africa with the disease mainly affecting Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
Prime Minister David Cameron today defended plans to introduce Ebola screening at Gatwick and Heathrow airports.
The Conservative leader said the screenings would be more than form-filling and involve "taking temperatures and identifying symptoms".
He said: "There are no direct flights from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the countries affected most, but people are coming in indirectly.
"We should be trying our best to screen them and that will begin this week.
"Not only are we doing more than almost any other country in the world to deal with this problem at source in Sierra Leone and other countries, we are also taking very vigorous steps here to make sure we keep our people safe."
Plans to introduce Ebola screening in the UK at Gatwick, Heathrow and Eurostar terminals were announced last Thursday.