HEREFORDSHIRE is sitting on a “syphilis time bomb”, a council committee heard.

The warning followed an update on the county’s health by Arif Mahmood, a Herefordshire Council consultant on public health, who said his colleagues are only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reported cases of the sexually transmitted disease.

Mr Mahmood told the Regulatory Committee the problem was on the rise, saying he believes many in Herefordshire aren’t coming forward.

“We are finding it’s affecting men having sex with men,” he said.

“We have to rely on those who present themselves.

“The numbers are very small telling the committee we are “sitting on a time bomb with it”.

Mr Mahmood admitted healthcare professionals didn’t know who was in charge during a suspected Ebola outbreak in Hereford last November.

“A man who had been working as a healthcare worker in Sierra Leone turned up at the walk-in centre at Asda with diarrhoea and was isolated,” he said.

“It turned out to be negative but it was an eye-opener. We realised we still didn’t understand whose responsibility it was to lead, but we pulled it off.”

He said improvements have since been implemented.