NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States imposed new constraints on Wednesday on people entering the country from three nations at the center of West Africas Ebola epidemic, mandating that they report their temperature daily and stay in touch with health authorities. President Barack Obama expressed cautious optimism about the situation in the United States after meeting with his Ebola response coordinator, Ron Klain, and other top officials on Klains first day on the job since being named on Friday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Preventions new restrictions on travelers arriving from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea marked the latest precautions put in place by the Obama administration to stop the spread of the virus. The steps stopped short of a ban on travelers from those countries demanded by some lawmakers. Health authorities and the public have been on alert for Ebola since late September when a Liberian visiting Dallas, Texas became the first person diagnosed with the virus in the United States. Two nurses who cared for him were also infected. The CDC said that, beginning on Monday, travelers from the three countries will be told to check in with health officials every day and report their temperatures and any Ebola symptoms for 21 days, the period of incubation for the virus. The travelers will be required to provide emails, phone numbers and addresses for themselves and for a friend or relative in the United States covering the 21 days, and the information will be shared with local health authorities. The travelers also will be required to coordinate with local public health officials if they intend to travel within the United States. If a traveler does not report in, local health officials will take immediate steps to find the person. CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden told reporters the active monitoring program will remain in place until the outbreak in West Africa is over. The U.N. World Health Organizations latest figures on Wednesday showed at least 4,877 people out of 9,936 confirmed, probable and suspected cases have died in the outbreak, the worst on record. These new measures Im announcing today will give additional levels of safety so that people who develop symptoms of Ebola are isolated early in the course of their illness, Frieden said. That will reduce the chance that Ebola will spread from an ill person through close contact and to healthcare workers. Beginning Wednesday, travelers from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea were being funneled through one of five major U.S. airports conducting increased screening for the virus. Six states account for nearly 70 percent of all travelers arriving from the affected countries: New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia. The new monitoring will begin in those states first and will be expanded to other states.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 06:23:34 +0000
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