“I think that it’s been confined right now to Africa, but its something that has had a breakout.”
Anyone with a US passport who has been in Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last three weeks is not able to enter the United States of America. The ban will last for at least 30 days, according to an order issued by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday.
Ebola is a highly contagious disease spread by coming into contact with bodily fluids. It often causes a fatal haemorrhagic fever, rapid multi-organ failure and internal or external bleeding.
Over 100 people have died and almost 400 suspected cases have been reported in the DRC since the outbreak was officially declared on Saturday. Two imported cases were reported in neighbouring Uganda and World Health Organization (WHO) has since then declared the epidemic a global health emergency, calling the outbreak an “extraordinary” event.
The Telegraph reported that the US travel ban technically breaches International Health Regulations (IHR).
The IHR is a legally binding set of protocols set by the WHO.
Washington said it will no longer follow these protocols since withdrawing from the WHO in January.
Under the regulations, countries are not allowed to introduce health measures that “significantly interfere with international traffic,” such as visa restrictions, border closures or flight suspensions, without scientific justification.
At least six Americans are reported to have been exposed to Ebola. Health officials are now considering evacuating them to quarantine in a US military base in Germany. The base could be the US Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Centre (LRMC), which played a similar role in a previous Ebola outbreak.
US President Donald Trump just two weeks earlier threatened to close military bases in Germany.
An American missionary doctor was the first US confirmed Ebola case. The doctor was exposed to the virus in the DRC and is in the process of being evacuated to Germany for treatment.
Another US patient reportedly is showing symptoms of the deadly haemorrhagic fever. Three others are deemed to have had “high-risk” contact with patients.
The CDC has 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”.
The current outbreak has been confirmed as the rare Bundibugyo strain. There is no approved vaccine or treatment for this strain.
An official said after Trump’s comments that there are currently no cases of Ebola in America.
“We want to keep it that way,” she said.