ALL ports of entry across the UK, not just London, should face screening for Ebola, a senior MP has suggested after the UK Government rapidly changed its position on health checks amid rising concerns over the spread of the deadly virus.

Following advice from Professor Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England, Downing Street announced enhanced screening for Ebola would be introduced at Heathrow and Gatwick airports, as well as Eurostar terminals.

But Rory Stewart, the Conservative MP for Penrith and the Border, criticised the Government's plans, saying it did not make sense to carry out tests only at certain airports or train stations.

"If we are moving into a situation in which we are seriously screening for an epidemic, then we need to get it right across all ports of entry. It does not make sense to only screen limited places," said the Scottish MP, who chairs the Commons Defence Committee.

The Government U-turn on screening came as the Foreign Office confirmed it was investigating reports that a Briton, suspected of having Ebola, had died in Macedonia. Local reports said a hotel had been sealed off and a second Briton was showing "symptoms of the virus".

The pair travelled to Macedonia in south-east Europe from London on October 2. Earlier this week, a Spanish nurse became the first person to contract the deadly virus outside of West Africa. Yesterday, her condition had deteriorated.

The UK screening, which follows similar measures in the US, will be introduced for passengers travelling from the affected regions - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - to give Britain an "additional level of protection".

The tests will involve assessing the travel history of passengers and people they may have been in contact with and onward travel arrangements, as well as a possible medical assessment conducted by trained medical personnel at the ports of entry.

However, health experts warned border checks were not the answer to tackling Ebola; rooting it out at source was.

Early yesterday, the Department of Health in Whitehall made clear it had "no plans" for screening and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said there would be no checks as the UK already had "very robust procedures in place". But by lunchtime Chancellor George Osborne went on the airwaves to say the Gov­ern­ment was prepared to test travellers if experts advised it, stressing: "We are not going to do anything that puts the British population at risk; quite the opposite."

By teatime, Downing Street announced enhanced screening would take place.

Professor Davies said, although the risk to the UK remained low, it was right to consider further measures to make sure potential cases of Ebola were identified as quickly as possible in the UK.

A No 10 spokeswoman explained screening at airports in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea had been in place for some weeks to ensure all passengers leaving affected countries were checked.

"Further screening has been kept under review throughout this period and advice from the Chief Medical Officer today is that enhanced screening arrangements at the UK's main ports of entry for people travelling from the affected regions - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea - will offer an additional level of protection to the UK," she added.

There are currently no direct flights from the three mainly affected west African countries, but there are some 40 a week arriving in the UK from Nigeria, Ghana and Gambia.

Last night, Labour's Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, who had called for UK screening, welcomed the news but said the Government must learn lessons from its "delay in action".

He said: "This now places us on the same page as the USA and South Africa, which began screening in April. We need targeted, enhanced screening to reassure the public and to relieve pressure on the Border Force."

Meanwhile, former foreign secretary David Miliband criticised the Western world's slow response to the crisis in west Africa.

Mr Miliband, who is in Sierra Leone with the International Rescue Committee, which he heads, called on the "big guns" of the world to lend more support.

He said: "There is no question there has been a tardiness, a slowness, a lateness of response."

On Wednesday, the UK Government announced 750 UK military personnel, including members of the Royal Scots Borderers, were being sent to Sierra Leone to help fight the outbreak.

The UK is also sending a medical ship and three helicopters, which will arrive next week.