New Ebola screening to start at 5 airports in US

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USA announced that the following five U.S. airports will soon begin enhanced Ebola screening for all travelers coming from Ebola-affected countries

1 John F. Kennedy International Airport – New York, NY
2 Washington Dulles International Airport – Washington, D.C.
3 Newark Liberty International Airport – Newark, NJ
4 Chicago O’Hare International Airport – Chicago, IL
5 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport – Atlanta, GA

These five airports receive more than 94% of travelers coming to the United States from the Ebola-affected nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Here’s what will happen after travelers’ passports are reviewed upon their arrival at any of these airports:

1 Travelers from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will be escorted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to an area of the airport set aside for screening.

2 Trained CBP staff will observe them for signs of illness, ask them a series of health and exposure questions and provide health information for Ebola and reminders to monitor themselves for symptoms. Trained medical staff will take their temperature with a non-contact thermometer.

3 If the travelers have fever, symptoms or the health questionnaire reveals possible Ebola exposure, they will be evaluated by a CDC quarantine station public health officer. The public health officer will again take a temperature reading and make a public health assessment. Travelers, who after this assessment, are determined to require further evaluation or monitoring will be referred to the appropriate public health authority.

4 Travelers from these countries who have neither symptoms/fever nor a known history of exposure will receive health information for self-monitoring.

JFK International Airport will implement the new screening measures this Saturday, while Washington Dulles, Newark, Chicago O’Hare, and Atlanta will begin next week. CDC is also sending additional staff to these five airports.

Source: The White House, USA


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