US steps up Ebola checks
October 23, 2014
United States health officials said Thursday they were introducing new monitoring regulations for travelers from West Africa in a bid to stop the deadly Ebola virus from spreading further.
As of next Monday, travelers entering the US from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - the countries worst affected by the epidemic - will have to visit and inform health officials every day for a period of 21 days, the period of incubation for the virus.
Among other things, they will be required to take their temperature twice daily and tell authorities of the results. Thermometer kits will be provided.
Notification of travel within US
They will also have to inform local public health officials if they intend to undertake travel within the US.
The measures announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will apply both to visitors from the three countries and American citizens returning from the region.
The program will start in the six states that are the most frequent destinations for travelers from West Africa - New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia. The reporting procedure is to extended later to other states.
The US is already carrying out screening and temperature checks on air passengers before they leave West Africa and again upon their arrival on American soil.
Growing fears
Health authorities in the US began taking increased precautions against Ebola after a Liberian man was diagnosed with the virus while visiting Dallas, Texas. The man later died. Two healthcare workers who were looking after him were also infected.
CDC Director Tom Frieden told reporters that the new monitoring measures would increase the level of safety, telling reporters on a conference call: "We have to keep our guard up."
The Obama administration, however, continues to resist calls by some lawmakers to place a ban on any travelers from West Africa entering the United States.
Harder to trace
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Wednesday that health officials had advised that such a ban might make outbreaks harder to trace, with blocked travelers seeking alternative routes.
Nonetheless, an Associated Press-GfK poll released on Wednesday showed that three quarters of Americans want all people traveling from the affected region to be prevented from entering the country.
The Evola virus has so far killed more than 4,800 people in West Africa. The symptoms of the disease, which is spread through contact with the bodily fluids of those infected, include fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea.
tj/ipj (Reuters, AP)