The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this week that travelers from Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United States will be required to give contact information because of two separate Ebola outbreaks in the countries.
The relatively small number of passengers – flying into a required six designated U.S. airports best equipped to handle the situation – will have to give airlines their information starting Thursday, which will be turned over to the CDC so health officials can speak to the person if necessary and potentially have them quarantined, The Washington Post reported.
The traveler must submit their information if they have been in either African country in the last 21 days, the CDC said Tuesday.
The six airports are in New York, Newark, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
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Similar measures were taken last year when travelers from China into the U.S. were flown to specific airports to undergo temperature screenings when the coronavirus pandemic first started.
The virus “spreads quickly” through bodily fluids, but poses “little risk” to those who haven’t been in close contact with an infected person, according to the CDC.
Guinea’s last Ebola outbreak in 2016 killed more than 11,000 people in the country.
It can also survive for hours to days on dry surfaces.
The CDC said the risk of Ebola spreading through the U.S. is “extremely low,” CNBC reported.
Only around 60 passengers fly to the U.S. from the DRC and Guinea each day, the Post reported.
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As of Feb. 23, a total of 17 patients reportedly had the virus in both countries.