Ebola in US: NFL teams sent advice but told 'not to panic'

The American football league has sent letters to all team doctors saying the risk of contracting Ebola had been 'skewed'

The Pittsburgh Steelers make their entrance at Wembley - players and staff have been sent advice about Ebola (GETTY IMAGES)

The NFL has sent letters to all its teams' doctors and athletic trainers, explaining how they should react to Ebola. At the moment they said that they are not going to start screening players.

The letter, published on USA Today says: "At this point we do not advise screening of players or staff to make sure that they have not had close contact with anyone who travelled to or from areas where Ebola is now endemic."

"We do recommend that medical personnel educate their players and staff about the need to inform club medical personnel in the unlikely event that they actually have such contact.”

It says they should report any contact they have had with people who have recently travelled to or from West Africa.

The letter, written by two doctors, says the general public and the medical community have been “bombarded” with news reports about the virus and that the risks have been “skewed in many news articles.”

In reality, they said, for people not involved in caring for Ebola patients the chance of contracting the disease and dying is lower than other rare causes of death such as being struck by lightning or being bitten by a dog.