The United States announced on Monday, May 18 that they are strengthening their precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola hemorrhagic fever by implementing health checks for air travelers coming from affected areas and by temporarily suspending visa services.
These measures, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), come as the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a public health emergency of international concern.
“At this time, the CDC considers the immediate risk to the American population low, but we will continue to assess the situation and may adjust public health measures based on new information available,” said the health agency in a statement. The CDC had announced over the weekend that they were working to coordinate “the safe repatriation of a small number of Americans directly affected by this epidemic.”
In addition to the airport checks, the CDC has announced the implementation of entry restrictions for foreign nationals who have traveled to Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), or South Sudan in the past 21 days. The U.S. Embassy in Kampala has announced the temporary suspension of all visa services and stated that the affected applicants have been informed. There is no specific vaccine or treatment for the strain responsible for the spread of this highly contagious disease.
According to the latest figures released Sunday by the DRC Health Minister, Samuel-Roger Kamba, 91 deaths have been linked to the current surge in cases. Approximately 350 suspected cases have been reported, and most of the infected individuals are between 20 and 39 years old. The United States, under the presidency of Donald Trump, officially withdrew from the WHO this year.
