The United States would not eliminate travel from countries in West Africa suffering the worst Ebola outbreak on record, Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed in a briefing today (Monday, October 13, 2014).
“Enhanced” airport screenings began at John F. Kennedy International in New York City over the weekend, and will expand to four others beginning this Thursday, he said, including at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International.
Until the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is brought under control, “there is no way to get risk in the U.S. to zero,” Frieden said.
The screening assesses whether arriving passengers have a fever, the first symptom of an Ebola infection, and requires those coming directly or indirectly from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea to answer questions about their contact with any Ebola patients.