Amid increasing calls for a travel or visa ban on those trying to enter the United States from West African nations ravaged by the Ebola virus, the federal government continues to be steadfastly opposed. But why? Officials continue to argue that the travel ban would make it more difficult to track potentially infectious people who somehow enter the U.S. anyway.
On ABC’s This Week Sunday, host George Stephanopoulos asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the public face of the NIH, why the U.S. shouldn’t institute the ban. Stephanopolous pointed out that countries in Africa neighboring those Ebola-stricken nations have imposed travel restrictions with success. “If it was working in Africa, why wouldn’t it work here in the United States?” he asked.
“Well, George, I think one needs to understand that, people who say that, we respect that opinion, and we understand that there’s some rationale for that,” Fauci says. “But when you look at what the possible side bad effects [sic] would be in the sense of counterproductive, is that when people come in from a country, it’s much easier to track them if you know where they’re coming from. But what you do if you then completely ban travel, there’s the feasibility of going to other countries where we don’t have a travel ban and have people come in.”
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Later in the program, the boss debated the issue with Tavis Smiley, Mary Matalin, and Stephanie Schriock. The panel also discussed the political implications of the Ebola outbreak.
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