Thursday 9 October 2014

US begins air passenger screening


Travellers from Ebola-affected countries will face increased security scrutiny at five major US airports.

Passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea will have their temperatures taken and have to answer questions.

The new measures at O'Hare in Chicago, JFK and Newark in the New York area, Washington's Dulles, and Atlanta's airport will begin in the coming days.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will dispatch staff to these five airports, which account for 90% of travellers to the US. As many as 160 people enter the US from those countries each day.

Travellers will be given a questionnaire, and if they answer yes to any questions or are running a fever, a representative of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will intervene and provide a public health assessment.

Factsheets will be distributed to travellers with information on symptoms of Ebola and instructions to call a doctor if they become ill within three weeks.

The Ebola outbreak has already killed more than 3,000 people and infected more than 7,200, mostly in West Africa.

The increase in passenger testing comes after the first person diagnosed with Ebola on US soil died in Dallas on Wednesday.

Thomas Duncan travelled to the US from Liberia, and was only diagnosed with the disease once he arrived in Texas.

A police officer who visited Mr Duncan's home is now reported to have Ebola-like symptoms and has been taken to hospital as a precaution.

Frisco Mayor Maher Maso described the risk as "minimal", but officials were taking "an abundance of caution"

Test results were expected back within about 48 hours, Mr Maso said.

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