U.S. Begins Screening Some Travelers for Ebola at Major International Airports

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has started screening passengers for Ebola at major international gateways after an American medical missionary tested positive for the disease this week.

The medical worker, who was treating patients at a hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was medically evacuated to Germany for treatment. The positive case is part of an outbreak that has spread across Central Africa, prompting the World Health Organization to declare it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. All of the cases are traced back to the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of Ebola that has only been seen twice previously and is considered less lethal than other variants, though still has a mortality rate of between 25% and 50%.

For now, the U.S. is screening American citizens and permanent residents who visited the affected regions—currently the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan—within 21 days of their return.

Those travelers are being routed through major U.S. airports, including John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Los Angeles International Airport.

At those gateways, passengers undergo visual and thermal screening, complete health questionnaires, and provide contact-tracing details. Foreign nationals who have traveled through the three affected countries within the previous 21 days are being denied entry to the U.S. entirely.

Federal health officials emphasized that the risk to the general domestic public remains low.

“At this time, CDC assesses the immediate risk to the general U.S. public as low, but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available,” the agency said in its official notice.

The CDC advised anyone who has recently traveled through the affected countries to monitor health alerts and seek immediate medical attention if they develop symptoms consistent with Ebola, such as a fever, weakness, vomiting, diarrhea, or unexplained bleeding.