More countries have enacted travel bans on residents from countries affected by the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
Canada and the Bahamas said Tuesday they will temporarily ban residents from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and South Sudan due to an outbreak of the rare Ebola Bundibugyo variant, which kills up to 50 percent of patients and has no treatments or vaccines.
The outbreak has caused about 1,000 suspected illnesses and 228 suspected deaths.
The Canadian government has banned entrance for 90 days with the goal of reducing the risk of Ebola entering and spreading throughout the country.
Canadian citizens, permanent residents and other foreign nationals who have been in affected areas in recent weeks and do not have symptoms – which include fever, severe headache and intense muscle pain – will be forced to quarantine for 21 days starting May 30, according to Canada’s public health agency.
In the Bahamas, entry restrictions will remain in place for 30 days, subject to review by the country’s health officials.
The Bahamas also announced enhanced health screenings and possible quarantines for residents and foreigners who were in DRC, Uganda or South Sudan within 30 days of arriving in the Caribbean country.
The restrictions come as New York City’s John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) joins a growing list of US airports chosen to enact enhanced screening for American passengers arriving from Ebola-ravaged countries.
Canada and the Bahamas have enacted bans on travelers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and South Sudan to stop the spread of Ebola. Pictured above are health workers from the Uganda Red Cross Society
John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York City (pictured above) will now conduct enhanced Ebola screening for Americans returning from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan
Washington Dulles International Airport outside of Washington DC, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston also will perform enhanced screening.
The US is requiring Americans arriving from the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan to reroute their travel to arrive in one of these four airports for screening.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a cabinet meeting Wednesday that the administration would not allow Ebola to enter the US, as an outbreak of the deadly disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo quickly spreads.
He said: ‘The number one priority of our foreign policy is to protect the American people. We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola into the US.’
Earlier this week, White House officials in a statement to the Daily Mail confirmed the Trump administration was drawing up plans with the Kenyan government to set up a facility for asymptomatic people who were thought to have been exposed to the disease.
The statement said: ‘As part of a coordinated multi-national response to the worsening Ebola health emergency, the US government is working with the Government of Kenya and other partners to plan for a facility for asymptomatic individuals suspected of exposure to the Ebola virus.
‘Kenya and the US share an historic health partnership that over decades has benefitted both Americans and Kenyans.
‘Our joint response to the current Ebola outbreak is a natural extension of our longstanding cooperation.’
The official added that the US government was ‘working very, very hard to contain this crisis to the countries where it is currently located.’
Pictured above are Red Cross workers lowering the coffin of Ebola virus victim Dr Tibenderana Katho Blaise into his grave in a cemetery near Bunia, the DRC
Congolese medical workers are seen honoring Dr Tibenderana Katho Blaise, who died of Ebola
The CDC has a level 3 travel advisory in place for the DRC, which advises Americans to ‘reconsider nonessential travel’ to the country’s Ituri, Nord-Kivu, and Sud-Kivu provinces.
Ebola spreads through contact with the blood or body fluids of an infected person, as well as contact with contaminated objects or infected animals such as bats or primates.
Agency officials note if travel is absolutely necessary, Americans should consider getting travel insurance. They should also avoid contact with individuals showing Ebola symptoms as well as blood or other bodily fluids or objects contaminated with them.
Travelers should also avoid contact with bats, forest antelopes, primates and blood, fluids or meat from these animals.
The CDC urges travelers to watch for symptoms of Ebola for 21 days after leaving the DRC.
The agency has a level 2 travel advisory in place for Uganda and South Sudan, which urges travelers to ‘practice enhanced precautions.’
Estimates suggest that up to 5,000 Americans are in the DRC, although it is not clear how many are in Uganda and South Sudan.
Pictured above is an advocacy poster displayed in Platinum Medical Centre in Uganda
Dr Peter Stafford, an American medical missionary doctor, became infected with the Bundibugyo virus while stationed in the DRC and was evacuated to Charité Hospital in Germany.
During a press conference Wednesday, health officials said Stafford is weak but is not critically ill. Officials said he has not required intensive care and has not suffered organ failure, and his viral counts are decreasing with antiviral medications.
Stafford is being treated in a fully isolated ward and can see his family only through a window. The officials added that his wife, Dr Rebekah Stafford, has tested negative for Ebola and remains symptom-free, but the family is being quarantined in a separate section of the unit.
Ebola’s presence in the DRC dates back to 1976, and the latest outbreak is the 17th in the country since.
Previous outbreaks in 2018 and 2020 in eastern Congo killed more than 1,000 people each. The largest Ebola outbreak occurred in 2014 to 2016 in West Africa when more than 28,600 cases were reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the current outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency, but countries sharing borders with DRC, such as Uganda and Rwanda, are at an increased risk of further spread.
Ebola symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pain and weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain and unexplained bleeding or bruising.
Medical staff are pictured carrying an Ebola patient at a hospital in the DRC
Workers from the Uganda Red Cross Society suit up in protective equipment as they prepare to evacuate the body of a suspected Ebola victim in Kampala
Ebola can cause serious disease and has a mortality rate as high as 90 percent without treatment.
The current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain of Ebola that has no approved treatments or vaccines. The strain has only been implicated in two other previous outbreaks, in 2007 and 2012.
The mortality rate for the Bundibugyo virus ranges from 25 to 50 percent.
The Zaire strain, which is the most common form of Ebola, can be treated with the drugs Inmazeb and Ebanga and the Ervebo vaccine, which is administered only during outbreaks.
‘Unfortunately, Bundibugyo has fewer proven countermeasures than Zaire ebolavirus, where vaccines have been highly effective in controlling outbreaks,’ Amanda Rojek, Associate Professor of Health Emergencies, Pandemic Sciences Institute at the University of Oxford, said in a statement.
