Asked by a reporter whether the Ebola outbreak worried him, President Donald Trump answered, “[I] certainly am.” He added: “I think that it’s been confined right now to Africa, but its something that has had a breakout.”
The administration has now acted on that worry. Guidance issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday bars entry to people who have travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the previous three weeks. The ban will run for at least 30 days.
The outbreak behind the ban
More than 100 deaths and almost 400 suspected cases have been recorded in the DRC since the outbreak was officially declared on Saturday. Two imported cases have been confirmed in neighbouring Uganda. The World Health Organization responded by declaring the epidemic a global health emergency and called the outbreak an “extraordinary” event.
The strain is Bundibugyo, an uncommon one, and no approved vaccine or treatment exists for it. Ebola spreads through contact with bodily fluids and often causes a fatal haemorrhagic fever, with rapid multi-organ failure and internal or external bleeding.
Americans exposed
At least six Americans are reported to have been exposed. Health authorities are weighing whether to evacuate them for quarantine at a US military facility in Germany, possibly the US Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre, which played a similar role in an earlier Ebola outbreak. Trump had threatened two weeks before to shut down military bases in Germany.
An American missionary doctor became the first confirmed US case after exposure to the virus in the DRC, and the medic is being evacuated to Germany for treatment. Another US patient is reportedly showing symptoms. Three others are believed to have had “high-risk” contact with patients.
The CDC said it was working with US officials “who are actively coordinating the safe withdrawal of a small number of Americans who are directly affected by this outbreak.”
A legal question
The Telegraph reported that the travel ban technically breaches the International Health Regulations, a legally binding set of rules set by the WHO. Under them, countries may not bring in health measures that “significantly interfere with international traffic” without scientific justification. That covers visa restrictions, border closures and flight suspensions. Washington has said it will no longer follow the regulations after leaving the WHO in January.
Following Trump’s comments, an official confirmed that no cases of Ebola are currently on American soil. “We want to keep it that way,” she said.
