The Trump administration is directing all travelers arriving in the United States after recent travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan to undergo enhanced Ebola screening at Washington Dulles International Airport as health officials respond to a growing outbreak in central Africa.
Under the new federal directive announced Thursday, all U.S.-bound people who have been present in the three countries within 21 days of arrival in the United States must enter through the Virginia airport beginning Thursday. The policy excludes cargo-only flights, airline crew members, and aircraft operated by the War Department.
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The Department of Homeland Security ordered airlines to route affected travelers through Dulles, where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Customs and Border Protection will conduct enhanced public health screening measures “to assist in preventing or limiting the introduction and spread of this communicable disease into the United States,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said.
The restrictions come as health officials warn of worsening Ebola outbreaks in the Congo and Uganda. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that there are nearly 600 suspected Ebola cases and 139 suspected deaths tied to the outbreak, in addition to 51 confirmed cases in the Congo. Uganda has also reported two confirmed cases among people who traveled from the Congo, including one death.
A U.S. medical missionary working in the Congo also tested positive for Ebola and was transferred to Germany for treatment, according to Tedros.
On Monday, the CDC barred foreign passport holders who had been in the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the previous 21 days from entering the U.S.
Officials said Dulles was selected because it “receives the largest number of travelers originating from” the three countries. The airport, located in the suburbs west of Washington, handled a record 10.53 million international travelers last year.
The new screening requirements also follow an incident on Wednesday in which a flight bound for Detroit was diverted to Montreal after a passenger who had recently been in the Congo boarded the plane “in error,” according to Customs and Border Protection.
Health officials warned that the current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo virus, one of the Ebola strains first identified in 2007. Previous outbreaks linked to the strain in the Congo and along the Congo-Uganda border killed roughly 30% of infected people.
CDC ISSUES TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS AS EBOLA SPREADS IN CONGO AND UGANDA
Federal officials also pointed to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 people and spread to seven countries across three continents, as evidence that Ebola can quickly become an international crisis without early intervention.
“Ebola disease may present a threat to U.S. health security given the unpredictable nature of outbreaks and the interconnectedness of countries through global travel,” Mullin said.
