Health officials in the Trump administration insist the United States is not at risk of an Ebola outbreak even as the disease continues to spread throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo, leading one neighboring country to shutter its shared border.
Henry Walke, who oversees preparedness and emerging infections for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said “at this time” the risk of Ebola making its way to the U.S. is unlikely.
Walke said fewer than 16,000 people travel from the Congo to the U.S. each year. He added no flights go directly from the Central African country to America.
“However, the risk of spread into neighboring countries is high,” Walke said.
The Congo’s southeastern neighbor, Rwanda, briefly closed its border after two new Ebola cases were reported in the Congo border city of Goma. One health official told the Associated Press a man died and may have transmitted the disease to his 1-year-old daughter and wife, which would mark the first known transmissions in Goma, which has a population of 2 million.
Walke said countries should not close their borders, echoing comments by World Health Organization officials last month.
It’s been 1 year since an #EbolaOutbreak was officially declared in DR Congo. Since then, there have been more than 2,600 confirmed cases, including 1800 deaths. Almost 1 in 3 cases is a child.
We’re on the ground working to stop the spread of disease: https://t.co/qyZNKizALc pic.twitter.com/EGJB1eYbXL
— World Vision (@WorldVision) August 1, 2019
Thursday makes one year since the Congo declared an outbreak. In that time, it has grown into the second-worst in history, claiming more than 1,800 lives. A total 2,600 people have been diagnosed over the past year.
WHO declared the outbreak in the Congo a public health emergency of international concern two weeks ago.
Between late May and mid-June, more than 1,000 Congolese migrants showed up at the U.S.-Mexico border near Del Rio, Texas. The arrivals prompted concerns among the public because of the Ebola virus outbreak overseas that some worried might be brought to the U.S. by asylum seekers. Over the past month, Congolese arrivals dropped off.
Migrants taken into custody were released by Border Patrol, then fanned out across the country to final destinations while they wait the average two to five years for asylum hearings. Border Patrol does not test individuals taken into custody for any diseases, nor does it vaccinate persons released.
The Washington Examiner spoke with three Congolese migrants after they were released from custody in Texas. The men said they spent six to seven months traveling through multiple African countries to get to South America, where they then traveled from to get to the U.S. southern border.
