Ebola precautions atU. S. airports urged
Airline passengers arriving in the U. S. from West African nations gripped by an outbreak of Ebola get a fact sheet about the deadly disease.
What they don’t get are detailed questions from agents at the U. S. airport to determine if they had contact with an Ebola victim or a screening to see if they have a high fever or other signs of the disease.
After a Liberian man arrived in Dallas and became the first confirmed Ebola case in the U. S., lawmakers are urging more aggressive action and some said they would convene hearings. Sen. Rob Portman ( R- Ohio) renewed a call for the U. S. to check travelers for Ebola symptoms, pressing Thomas Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The time for action has come and gone and the CDC has yet to answer why they are resisting this next commonsense step that is long overdue,” Portman said in a statement.
Jason McDonald, a spokesman at the CDC, said the agency has no intention of raising the screening process at U. S. airports from passive to active.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is set to examine this issue Oct. 16 at a subcommittee hearing on the Ebola outbreak with Frieden and other officials, according to a statement the panel issued Friday.
Sen. Ted Cruz ( R- Texas) on Thursday asked the Federal Aviation Administration to describe what training is being provided to airlines and their crews to identify symptoms of the disease.
“Does the FAA intend to take any steps to limit or suspend air travel to countries that have experienced a significant Ebola outbreak?” he asked.
The FAA said in a statement that it is monitoring the situation. Transportation Department regulations let airlines deny boarding to passengers with contagious diseases that may spread during flight.
“Individuals don’t know what their exposures may have been. Not all individuals fully disclose what their exposure may have been,” Frieden said.“We can’t make the risk zero until the outbreak is controlled. What we can do is minimize that risk.”
The CDC has worked with governments in West Africa so that “100% of the individuals getting on planes are screened for fever before they get on a plane,” Frieden said.
Travelers arriving in the U. S. from nations with Ebola cases aren’t given a special screening by U. S. border or customs agents. As of Oct. 1, agents were handing out cards describing Ebola’s symptoms and timeline.
Agents also observe all travelers for “overt signs of illness,” said Jennifer Evanitsky, a spokeswoman for U. S. Customs and Border Protection. Those that show signs are sent to an airport CDC official for review.
“The traveler would be isolated from the traveling public while the CDC and local public health authorities conduct an evaluation,” a Customs statement said.
The CDC could order customs and border agents to begin active screening, Portman said in a Sept. 15 letter. The agency has advised hospitals to treat people returning from West Africa with flu- like symptoms as possible Ebola patients.