US-bound flights with passengers who were in Ebola-affected region must land at Dulles airport for health screening
As of May 21
(CNN) — US-bound flights carrying passengers who were recently in an Ebola-affected region of Africa must land at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, where they will undergo health screening.
“The Dulles requirement applies to all passengers, including U.S. citizens and [lawful permanent residents], who were present” in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda, the US Department of State said in a travel advisory.
At least 10 staffers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are being sent to Dulles to help with screening of arriving passengers amid the Ebola outbreak, a person at CDC with knowledge of the plan told CNN.
The CDC has also invoked Title 42 – a public health law that restricts entry into the US during outbreaks of communicable diseases – for at least 30 days starting Monday. The move includes entry restrictions on non-citizens who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan, which borders both affected countries, in the previous 21 days, as well as screening and monitoring of people arriving from these countries.
“We care about Ebola, we don’t want anyone dying or being affected by Ebola, but our number one priority will always be making sure it doesn’t come to the United States,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday.
“Objective number two is do what we can to help the people of DRC and neighboring countries so it doesn’t spread.”
The Department of Homeland Security said Customs and Border Protection “is continuing to coordinate with airlines, international partners, and port-of-entry officials to identify and manage travelers who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus.”
An Air France flight bound for Detroit from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport was briefly diverted to Montreal on Wednesday afternoon because a Congolese passenger was denied entry to the US, the airline said.
CPB said the passenger had boarded “in error” and the flight was prohibited from landing in Detroit. “CBP, in coordination with CDC, is taking the necessary measures to protect public health and reduce the risk of Ebola disease introduction into the United States.”
Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for Public Health Agency of Canada, said in a statement that an agency quarantine officer “assessed the traveller and determined they were asymptomatic. The traveller has departed back to Paris.” The flight and other passengers continued to Detroit.
How entry screening works
The CDC said Thursday that the screenings at Dulles are “part of a layered approach that, when used with other public health measures already in place to detect symptomatic arriving travelers, can slow and reduce the spread of disease into the United States.”
People who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous three weeks will be escorted to a special area of the airport where they’ll be asked about their travel history and any symptoms, the agency said. CDC workers will also look for signs of illness and take their temperature.
Travelers who don’t have symptoms will be given information on what to do if they become ill and then allowed to proceed to their destinations. Their contact information will be shared with state and local health departments for follow-up.
Travelers who have a fever or other possible symptoms “who are reasonably believed to be infected with or exposed to Ebola” will be taken to a hospital, where they’ll be isolated and tested. The CDC will work with local health departments to notify fellow passengers.
A Dulles spokesperson said they do not expect significant impacts on airport customers.
“The Airports Authority is working with federal partners to support efforts led by the Centers for Disease Control affecting various international flights arriving at Dulles Airport. This includes providing staff and public safety resources as needed,” the spokesperson said.
Americans arrive in Europe for care, monitoring
There are more than 600 suspected Ebola cases and 160 deaths across the DRC and Uganda, according to the DRC. The CDC emphasized Wednesday that the outbreak is of low risk to the general public, “but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available.”
One American, Dr. Peter Stafford, tested positive for Ebola while working in the DRC and has been hospitalized in Germany. His wife, Dr. Rebekah Stafford, is asymptomatic and being monitored in a separate portion of the hospital in Germany, as are the couple’s four children.
The Stafford family was stationed with the international charity Serge at a hospital in the DRC when the World Health Organization declared Ebola a public health emergency.
“He’s in a state of mind and of health that he’s able to communicate with us,” Matt Allison, the executive director of Serge, told CNN on Wednesday. “He continues to have a fever, dizziness, lightheadedness and some nausea, which are fairly typical symptoms for Ebola. But he’s getting a monoclonal antibody treatment.”
Within the space of a day, Stafford’s health had improved. “He needed assistance to even walk,” the executive director said. There has been “some progress, and we’re really encouraged.”
In an update on Thursday, Serge said Stafford shared, “Before I was evacuated, I was feeling really concerned I wasn’t going to make it. And now I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Another US doctor who was working in DRC, Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, has arrived at a hospital in the Czech Republic for monitoring. He is in quarantine and does not have symptoms, Serge said Thursday.
Czech authorities have stressed that there is no risk to the public after the country agreed to accept the patient.
“Only two countries were asked for help: Germany and the Czech Republic,” Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said Wednesday.
“When we asked why, we were told that the Czech Republic has a very good reputation when it comes to handling infectious diseases,” Vojtěch added.
Dr. Hana Roháčová, the chief of the Infectious Diseases Clinic at the Bulovka Hospital in Prague, said her team hadn’t received much “concrete information” about the patient and the nature and time of his contact with infected people.
If asymptomatic, “he will be under observation and we will not be doing any tests or investigations — because no tests can prove if the patient is [infected and] inside the incubation period when there are no symptoms,” she said.
Vojtěch added that the treatment would not be a “cheap undertaking,” but the entire medical and transport bill will be picked up by the US.
CNN’s Katherine Dillinger, Deidre McPhillips and Diego Mendoza contributed to this report.
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