The United States announced Monday a package of measures to contain the spread of Ebola, including health checks at airports for passengers from affected areas and the temporary suspension of visas for citizens of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and South Sudan who have traveled to those countries in the last 21 days.
The decision comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in the DRC an international health emergency. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that an American citizen working in the DRC contracted the virus. Satish Pillai, head of Ebola incident management at the CDC, told journalists that at this time, the immediate risk to the general public in the US is low.
President Donald Trump stated that the outbreak, for now, has been limited to Africa, but expressed concern. The US officially withdrew from the WHO this year, during the Trump administration. In recent days, US authorities have avoided answering how cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) — a key player in previous Ebola responses — have affected current surveillance efforts.
The State Department reported mobilizing $13 million in aid for immediate response actions. However, Matthew Kavanagh, director of the Center for Global Health Policy and Politics at Georgetown University, called the US response disappointing. “The government said it could negotiate bilateral agreements and replace WHO capacity with domestic efforts. This outbreak clearly shows that this is a failed strategy,” he told AFP.
There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the strain responsible for the current outbreak. According to data from the Congolese Ministry of Health released Sunday, there are 91 Ebola-related deaths and 350 suspected cases. Most of those affected are between 20 and 39 years old, and more than 60% are women.