CDC to Begin Public Health Measures to Respond to Ebola in Africa

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced beginning this week it was going to funnel air travelers from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Guinea to 6 US airports due to an Ebola outbreak.

While there has been a limited amount of cases in remote areas in these countries, out of an abundance of caution, the CDC acted to ensure it limited the risk to the US.

“Air travel has the potential to transport people, some of whom may have been exposed to a communicable disease, anywhere across the globe in less than 24 hours,” the CDC statement read.

The CDC did not mention which airports they would be using. In addition, the airlines will be sending passenger information to CDC for all those who boarded a flight to the US from the 2 countries within the past 3 weeks.

In recent weeks, a handful of deaths from the disease have been reported. Just months removed from the country’s worst outbreak, the DRC is experiencing this latest outbreak.

As of this past Saturday, In the DRC, there have been 8 cases, 4 deaths, 788 contacts with 88% monitored, and 773 people vaccinated. In Guinea there were 15 cases, 6 deaths, 353 contacts with 99% monitored and 771 people vaccinated. These statistics come for the World Health Organization.