US to require foreigners to confirm they have not traveled to the DRC — The Hill

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will require foreign travelers heading to the country to confirm that they have not visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the past three weeks. The requirement is being introduced amid a large-scale Ebola outbreak in the DRC.

As The Hill reports, Reuters was the first to write about the new rule, citing a CDC memorandum. The Hill contacted the US agency for comment.

Previous restrictions

Previously, the CDC applied rules that prohibited travel to the United States by any travelers, including US citizens, if they had been in the DRC during the 21 days before departure.

According to the World Health Organization, as of October 11, more than 9,000 cases and over 4,000 deaths linked to the Bundibugyo Ebola strain had been confirmed. The WHO said that the spread of the disease remains high and unstable, while the epidemic has a variable and geographically fragmented nature.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Cases in Kenya and Nigeria

Kenya and Nigeria confirmed their first Ebola cases after the patients may have crossed paths on October 3 at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda. According to the Associated Press, nine cases were recorded in Kenya, with 135 contacts linked to them, 134 of whom were in quarantine.

Nigerian Health Minister Muhammad Pate said that medical workers are tracking 44 contacts of the female patient and have identified additional contacts. According to AP, the patient is a native of Uganda and the wife of a diplomat who spent two weeks on vacation in Uganda last month. Ugandan authorities said that she had visited the DRC, but Nigerian health authorities denied this.

In August, the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision authorized the allocation to the DRC of an initial batch of 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile.