EBOLAAs Ebola Spreads in Uganda, U.S. Imposes Traveler Screening
The Biden administration announced last week that all travelers entering the United States from Uganda will be redirected to airports where they can be screened for Ebola virus disease (EVD). Ebola detection is not straightforward, as symptoms can lay dormant for two to 21 days, and during that time, the disease wouldn’t show up on a blood test, let alone a thermometer.
The Biden administration announced last week that all travelers entering the United States from Uganda will be redirected to airports where they can be screened for Ebola virus disease (EVD). Physicians were also warned to be on the lookout for potential cases entering the country. According to The New York Times, “The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered the airport screenings, and the State Department issued an alert saying the measures would apply to all passengers, including U.S. citizens… Screenings were expected to begin on Thursday for some passengers, but the travel restrictions will not go into effect until next week, according to an official familiar with the plan, who stressed that both the restrictions and the alert to doctors were issued as precautions.”
Passengers entering the US from Uganda will be redirected to New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. According to the administration, 62% of passengers entering the country from Uganda already arrive through these airports. They will undergo temperature checks and complete questionnaires before continuing to their final destinations.
According to the advisory, “On September 20, 2022, the Ministry of Health of Uganda officially declared an outbreak of EVD due to Sudan virus (species Sudan ebolavirus)in Mubende District, Central Uganda.”
“The first confirmed case of EVD was a 25-year-old man who lived in Mubende District and quickly identified as a suspect case of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) and isolated in the Mubende Regional Referral Hospital. Blood collected from this patient tested positive for Sudan virus by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) on September 19, 2022, at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). The patient died the same day, and a supervised burial was performed by trained staff wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE). Further investigation into this case revealed a cluster of unexplained deaths occurring in the community during the previous month. As of October 6, 2022, a total of 44 confirmed cases, 10 confirmed deaths, and 20 probable deaths of EVD have been identified in Uganda.”
