Friday Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced new travel measures for those arriving in the United States from countries affected by an Ebola outbreak.
Starting next week, passengers traveling from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be redirected to six U.S. airports so the CDC can track and track them.
“Airlines will collect and transmit passenger information to CDC for monitoring and public health intervention of all passengers embarking on a flight to the United States who were in the DRC or Guinea for the previous 21 days, ”the announcement states. .
Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have seen multiple Ebola outbreaks over the years, with previous outbreaks killing thousands of people.
The United States has not seen any cases of Ebola since 2015 and officials said they do not believe the latest outbreak is a threat to the country.
For Ebola to spread, a person must have direct contact with the blood or body fluids of a person who has the virus. As long as a person does not travel to an outbreak area, the CDC states that the risk is low for a person to have the virus.
However, as a precaution, the CDC said passengers in the two countries currently experiencing outbreaks will have their contact information verified and shared with state and local health authorities.
This week, the agency issued level three health warnings Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, that is, there should be no non-essential travel to countries.
The Ebola outbreak in Guinea began in mid-February in a rural area of the country, while the Democratic Republic of Congo saw its outbreak begin earlier this month.
Currently, there have been nine reported cases in Guinea with five dead. The Democratic Republic of Congo has seen eight confirmed cases and four deaths in the latest outbreak, according to the World Health Organization.
The latest Ebola outbreaks occur as the world struggles to control the coronavirus, as the disease has affected millions of people around the world since early last year.