Dr Gerard said that although his department at Gatwick regularly screened immigrants and asylum seekers for TB that they had not so far encountered any of the rarer illnesses such as Ebola or Lassa Fever, but he said they were alert to the threat.

BBC: GPs warned to be ready for smallpox

Breast-feeding can certainly help provide immune protection against multiple illnesses, but not if a mother does not have immunity to a certain disease such as pertussis.

CNN: Can breast-feeding prevent whooping cough?

The celebrity effect has increased public awareness of bipolar disorder, but now more work is needed for the public to gain a better understanding of other illnesses such as schizophrenia.

BBC: Why patients are saying 'I want to be bipolar'

But it also showed that support for medical research into illnesses which affected people in old age, such as arthritis, dementia and strokes, was not a priority.

BBC: Many 'too optimistic about health'

But doctors at feeding clinics in affected areas say that children are already dying of illnesses linked to malnutrition, such as diarrhoea, heart failure, pneumonia and other infections.

ECONOMIST: The Horn of Africa: The tragedy of the decade? | The