
It’s common knowledge that Uganda has suffered multiple Ebola outbreaks, including one in 2000 in which more than 200 people died.
Passengers
travelling from Uganda will be screen by the United States for the Ebola virus
as it surges in the African country.
Moving
forward people who have visited the country will be redirected to five airports
where they can be checked for ebola. The
Biden administration says that although no cases of the highly-contagious
disease have been reported in the US,
The
screenings have been ordered by the director of the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and the State Department says that it applies to all passengers,
including US citizens.
The
screenings will start for some passengers on Thursday and the restriction will
go into full effect next week, an official told The New York Times.
The five
airports that provide enhanced screenings are in the New York City area,
Atlanta, Chicago, or Washington.
That
official, who is familiar with the plan, said that the restrictions and an
alert to doctors were issued as a precaution.
The CDC
said it had issued its advisory on Thursday to “remind clinicians about best
practices” about Ebola.
The
federal agency has also urged doctors to obtain a travel history from any
patients they suspect of having Ebola.
“While
there are no direct flights from Uganda to the United States, travellers from
or passing through affected areas in Uganda can enter the United States on
flights connecting from other countries,” the CDC alert stated.
Ebola is
spread only through contact with infected bodily fluids and is not an airborne
virus.
Symptoms
include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle pain, as well as internal and
external bleeding.
The
current outbreak of the Sudan strain of the virus in central Uganda reportedly
has a 69 per cent case fatality rate and has claimed 30 lives, including four
health workers. There have been 43 confirmed cases, reports the Associated
Press.
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