U.S. Airports to Screen Travelers for Ebola After One American Is Infected

The United States announced on Monday that it is strengthening measures to curb the spread of Ebola, including screening air passengers from outbreak‑affected regions and temporarily suspending visa services.

The steps, disclosed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), come after the World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) an international health emergency.

During a briefing, Satish Pillai, the CDC’s Ebola response incident manager, informed reporters that one American in the DRC had contracted the virus after exposure related to “their work” there.

“The person developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday,” Pillai said, adding that the individual was being prepared for transport to Germany for treatment.

He also said the United States was arranging the evacuation of six additional people for health monitoring.

Pillai noted that the CDC field office in the DRC employs about 25 people and that the agency is responding to a request to send an additional senior technical coordinator.

“At this time, CDC assesses the immediate risk to the general U.S. public as low, but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available,” the agency said in a statement.

In addition to airport screening, the CDC announced entry restrictions for non‑U.S. passport holders who have travelled to Uganda, the DRC or South Sudan within the past 21 days.

The U.S. Embassy in Kampala, Uganda, said it had temporarily paused all visa services and that affected applicants had been notified.

President Trump said he was “concerned” by the outbreak but added that “I think that it’s been confined right now to Africa.”

– Criticism of U.S. response –

There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the strain responsible for the current spread of the highly contagious hemorrhagic fever.

Ninety‑one reported deaths are suspected to have resulted from the current surge in cases, according to the latest figures released on Sunday by Congolese Health Minister Samuel‑Roger Kamba.

About 350 suspected cases have been reported. Most affected individuals are aged between 20 and 39, and more than 60 percent are women.

The United States, under President Donald Trump, formally withdrew from the World Health Organization this year.

In recent days, U.S. officials have avoided questions about how the administration’s cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)—which played a key role in previous Ebola responses—have impacted current efforts to monitor and manage the virus’s spread.

CDC officials have emphasized that they are collaborating with international partners and health officials in affected countries.

The public health measures announced Monday will include continued deployment of CDC personnel to support outbreak containment efforts in affected regions, as well as assistance with contact tracing and laboratory testing, the agency said.

In a statement, the U.S. State Department said it had mobilized $13 million in aid for “immediate response efforts.”

Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Georgetown University Center for Global Health Policy and Politics, described the U.S. response so far as “disappointing” and called travel bans “more theater than effective public health measures.”

“The administration claimed it could negotiate bilateral deals and replace the capacity of WHO with domestic efforts. This outbreak clearly shows that is a failed strategy,” he told AFP.

He noted that during previous Ebola outbreaks, coordinated efforts between USAID, the CDC and U.S.‑funded nonprofits led to rapid response and containment.

“We’re weeks into an outbreak and only finding out about it after hundreds of cases and major spread including to the capital city of Uganda,” Kavanagh said, adding that the Trump administration was “playing catch‑up.”

AFP

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