Five U.S. airports will start screening passengers traveling from Ebola-stricken nations, the Centers for Disease Control announced Wednesday.
Stepped up screening will take place at New York City’s JFK International, Washington Dulles, Newark, Chicago O’Hare and Atlanta International airports, where officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection will examine passports for travelers from Ebola-stricken Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Travelers coming from the three countries will be taken to a separate area of the airport for extra screening by trained medical staff who will take the temperatures of the travelers, monitor for signs of Ebola and ask passengers questions.
Those with signs of the disease will be seen at the airport by a “CDC quarantine station public health officer,” officials said.
Screening will start Saturday at JFK but will not begin at the other four airports until “next week,” according to the CDC, which plans to send additional personnel to the chosen airports.
The augmented screening list does not include the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, were the nation’s only known Ebola patient arrived last week. Thomas Eric Duncan flew to Dallas from Liberia after a layover at Washington Dulles.
Duncan died from Ebola on Wednesday.
