The State Department announced Thursday that U.S. citizens who have visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past three weeks must now return to America exclusively through Washington Dulles Airport due to escalating Ebola cases in the region.
Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with Customs and Border Protection have implemented heightened public health screening procedures at Dulles Airport in response to the ongoing Ebola crisis. The new measures came into focus Wednesday when an Air France flight traveling from Paris to Detroit was forced to divert to Montreal after a passenger from the DRC had boarded the aircraft “in error,” according to CBP officials.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained Thursday that the flight diversion was necessary to prevent Ebola from entering American territory.
“We had a flight last night headed to Detroit that was diverted because we have to protect the American people. So, objective number one is to make sure that Ebola never reaches the United States. Objective number two is do what we can to help the people of DRC and neighboring countries so it doesn’t spread.”
Earlier this week, the CDC announced it was halting entry for travelers who had been in the DRC and South Sudan within the weeks prior to their planned arrival in the United States as a measure to limit Ebola transmission risk. The travel restriction excludes Americans and lawful permanent residents.
This screening approach mirrors actions taken in 2014, when the United States mandated that travelers returning from three African nations affected by Ebola concerns could only arrive at five designated U.S. airports equipped with enhanced screening capabilities, including Dulles, New York JFK, Chicago O’Hare and Atlanta.
Health officials confirmed Thursday that an Ebola case has been detected in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, located hundreds of kilometers away from where the outbreak initially began, according to the rebel alliance controlling that territory.
The World Health Organization reports that the current outbreak has resulted in 139 fatalities, with 600 suspected cases documented in Ituri and North Kivu provinces as of Wednesday. Additionally, two confirmed cases have been identified in neighboring Uganda.
Over the weekend, the WHO designated the outbreak of the virus’s Bundibugyo strain as a public health emergency of international concern. No vaccine exists for this particular strain.
Ugandan Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi criticized the U.S. response to Reuters, stating that America was “overreacting” by implementing travel bans affecting most travelers from Uganda, the DRC and South Sudan earlier this week.
