The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will expand mandatory public health entry screening to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston next Tuesday at 11:59 p.m., widening an emergency travel response that began at Washington Dulles International Airport and was extended Friday night to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The move means passengers who have been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the previous 21 days must enter the country through the airports named in the order. The restrictions apply to arriving U.S. citizens and permanent residents tied to travel in those three countries, and federal officials have not said how many people will be affected by the rerouting mandates.
The latest expansion comes as health authorities try to keep Ebola from reaching the United States. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “Our No 1 objective on Ebola … has to be we can’t have it affect the United States. We can’t have Ebola cases coming here.” Officials have not announced when the airport screening requirement will end.
The order also lands against the backdrop of a fast-moving outbreak overseas. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Health Organization has raised the risk of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola to very high and declared the outbreak in the DRC and Uganda an emergency of international concern. Over the past 30 days, the outbreak has been linked to 82 cases, 7 confirmed deaths and 177 suspected deaths, with almost 750 suspected cases reported across 10 African countries.
Travelers planning trips to the United States have been told to contact their airlines immediately to verify routing, flight status and possible cancellations. For now, the question is not whether the screening net widens again — it already has — but how many more travelers will be swept into it before health officials decide the threat has eased.
