Anyone entering the United States from the three countries currently at the center of the West African Ebola epidemic will have to undergo much stricter screening and monitoring with the goal of preventing the spread of the dangerous virus, US health officials have revealed on Wednesday.
Beginning Monday, travelers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will be instructed to check in with health officials every day in their first 21 days of stay in the US, and report their temperature and any Ebola symptoms immediately. They will have to provide health authorities with all their contact details – address, phone number and email address – and all the information provided will be shared with local health authorities, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced. Travelers entering the country will be required to coordinate with local health officials if they wish to travel inside the United States. If they fail to do so, authorities will take all necessary steps to locate them.
CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden considers that these measures will raise security to a new level, allowing people who develop the symptoms of the dangerous disease to be identified and isolated in the early course of their illness. This way the chances of Ebola spreading from one person to another will be reduced significantly. According to Dr. Frieden, the measures will remain in place until the current outbreak of Ebola in West Africa is over. Make no mistake – the enhanced monitoring program will not be applied only to citizens of the affected countries, but to anyone returning to the US from them, including journalists and CDC employees. All travelers coming from these countries will be funneled to one of five major international airports, with enhanced control measures in place. All travelers will receive a kit that contains a pictorial description of the Ebola symptoms, a thermometer, a tracking log, information on temperature monitoring and on what to do if they discover the symptoms on themselves.