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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Thursday it would begin redirecting U.S.-bound travelers who had been to Uganda within the previous 21 days to five major American airports to be screened for Ebola.
According to Uganda’s Health Ministry at least nine people had died of the disease in Uganda by Oct. 3, since authorities in the east African nation announced the outbreak of the deadly hemorrhagic fever on Sept. 20.
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Screening was beginning on Thursday at airports but the funneling requirements are expected to take effect within the coming week or so, a source told Reuters.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will apply new layers of screening at these five U.S. airports in response to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda,” the U.S. Embassy in Uganda said.
The travelers need to arrive at New York-John F. Kennedy, Newark, Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare or Washington Dulles airports for screening. There is no vaccine for the Sudan strain of the disease behind the latest Uganda infections, triggering fears of a major health crisis in the country of 45 million people.
Two sources said about 140 people who had recently been in Uganda arrive daily in the United States, with 62% currently landing at one of those five airports. Officials will conduct a temperature screening, ask health questions and report arrivals to local health departments.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday it had no suspected or confirmed U.S. Ebola cases from the Sudan strain cases but urged healthcare workers to be aware of an outbreak in Uganda.
“To date in this outbreak, cases have only been confirmed in Uganda and no suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of Ebola have been reported in the United States, and the risk of Ebola domestically is currently low,” the U.S. Embassy said.
“Enhanced screening applies to all passengers, including U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and visa holders (to include Diplomatic and Official visas),” it added.
On Saturday, a Tanzanian doctor working in Uganda who contracted Ebola has died, the first health worker killed by the disease in the latest outbreak in the country, Uganda’s health minister said.
In March 2021, the CDC began funneling travelers who had been to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea within the prior 21 days to six U.S. airports to address Ebola concerns. (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Elias Biryabarema in Kampala; Editing by Richard Chang)
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