The United States will soon monitor travelers arriving in the country from two nations affected by the Ebola virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday. The CDC confirmed those plans after CBS News first reported details Friday night.
Starting next week, the “very small number” of travelers arriving from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo will be channeled to six U.S. airports where their information will be collected and shared with local health officials, he said. CDC.
As of February 25, us Cases of Ebola have been reported in Guinea, causing five deaths and eight as reported by the World Health Organization, cases have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has resulted in four deaths. The CDC stressed in its statement that “outbreaks focus on remote areas of these countries” and said “the risk of Ebola for the United States is extremely low.”
The CDC said the 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 are in the DRC or Guinea for 21 days. This information will be shared with the U.S. state and local health departments to properly monitor arrivals in their jurisdiction. ”
A source familiar with the decision said John F. Kennedy in New York, Dulles outside Washington, DC, O’Hare in Chicago, Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, Los Angeles International Airport and Newark Liberty outside New York they were considered watchtowers. The CDC did not specify which airports it plans to use.
This approach to channeling is similar to the steps taken in 2014 when travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea headed to five of these airports, where they had the temperature taken on arrival.
Between March 2014 and April 2016, there were more than 28,000 cases of Ebola in West Africa and 11,310 people died, according to the CDC.
With the COVID-19 pandemic underway, it is recognized at CDC that resources for additional follow-up are stretched, according to one of the people familiar with the discussions. The CDC monitored nearly 30,000 people to detect Ebola as of 2014, an effort that required hundreds of CDC personnel, according to the CDC.
“This is a great example of how we need to be prepared for anything in the field of public health,” said another source familiar with follow-up discussions before the news broke.
In 2014, the Obama administration appointed Ron Klain to lead the U.S. strategy against Ebola. Klain is now President Biden’s chief of staff.
Christina Ruffini and Max Bayer contributed to this story.