Screening has started at a major US airport after an outbreak of the highly contagious Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began screening some travellers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday, May 20 as health officials respond to the outbreak.
This comes just days after the CDC said any US passport holder who has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the past three weeks will be barred from entering the country. The ban will last for at least 30 days, according to an order issued by the CDC on Monday.
Ebola is a highly contagious disease transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. It frequently causes fatal haemorrhagic fever, rapid multi-organ failure and internal or external bleeding.
View 3 Images(L) Dr Craig Spencer, pictured in 2014, during his time in Africa prior to contracting Ebola, and (R) an artist’s impression of Ebola in its natural environment (Image: Supplied)
“Ebola is one of the most infectious diseases out there. I’m not an alarmist, but I’m very concerned,” said CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance, Dr Tyler Evans.
Ebola cases are continuing to spread across parts of East and Central Africa and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
At least six Americans are reported to have been exposed to Ebola.
An American doctor who contracted Ebola in the DRC has been flown to Germany for treatment, along with his wife and four children, as the World Health Organization warned of the “scale and speed” of the outbreak.
Federal health officials have said that the screening process at the busy O’Hare airport is intended to prevent the virus from entering the US.
People who have travelled through Uganda, the DRC or South Sudan within the last 21 days are being denied entry unless they are US citizens or permanent residents. Returning citizens and permanent residents arriving from those countries have to undergo additional screening measures at the airport.
Officials are checking travellers’ temperatures, enquiring about potential exposure and collect contact-tracing information.
View 3 ImagesA medical worker checks the temperature of a local resident as part of Ebola screening in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo(Image: Xinhua/Shutterstock)
Those who show symptoms or have a fever will be taken to a quarantine station at the airport for a second evaluation.
If cleared, the traveller will be given a care kit with instructions to monitor their temperature twice a day for the next three weeks.
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US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he is concerned about the Ebola outbreak.
When asked by a reporter about his concerns over the virus, Trump responded: “[I] certainly am.
“I think that it’s been confined right now to Africa, but its something that has had a breakout.”