The United States Department of Homeland Security announced travel restrictions starting Thursday, requiring all U. S.
-bound passenger flights carrying foreign travelers who visited Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within 21 days to land exclusively at Washington-Dulles International Airport.
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The policy follows a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mandate restricting entry for non-U. S.
passport holders from those nations.
Health officials are responding to a growing outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo Ebola strain, which has caused over 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin directed the arrival restrictions to funnel travelers to a single port of entry.
The designated Virginia airport allows the government to focus public health resources and implement enhanced screening measures.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the new requirements to CBS News, outlining the coordinated response with international partners and airlines.
The spokesperson said Customs and Border Protection is enhancing public health screening, travel monitoring, and health protection response activities to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus spreading.
The agency did not disclose specific screening protocols that travelers will undergo upon arrival.
The spokesperson noted that customs personnel are working directly with aviation partners to identify and manage travelers who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus.
Outbreak Centers on Conflict Zone
The World Health Organization reported that the current epidemic is centered in a conflict-affected area of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The virus has reached Goma, a rebel-held city located 230 miles from the outbreak epicenter.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed concern over the trajectory of the disease during a press conference. He said, "We expect those numbers to keep increasing."
The organization noted that the outbreak began a couple of months before its official detection in eastern Congo on May 15.
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Tedros stated that the actual scale of the infection is significantly larger than current official counts, saying, "We know that the scale of the epidemic in DRC is much larger."
Medical experts stated that the Bundibugyo strain has a case fatality rate of 30% to 50% and lacks approved vaccines.
WHO senior science and strategy adviser Dr. Vasee Moorthy discussed the timeline for potential clinical vaccine trials.
Moorthy explained that while doses from the University of Oxford and India's Serum Institute are in production, animal testing data remains unavailable.
A separate vaccine candidate is roughly six to nine months away from trials.
He said, "It is possible that doses could be available for clinical trial," but added, "there is a lot of uncertainty about whether that is a promising candidate."
The outbreak has directly impacted American personnel operating in the region.
Dr. Peter Stafford, an American missionary doctor who contracted Ebola, is receiving care in an isolation ward at Berlin's Charité hospital, alongside his exposed family and a second U.
S. physician flown to Prague.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed the unfolding health crisis on Tuesday, noting that the federal government has mobilized $14 million to establish 50 regional clinics.
Rubio emphasized that reaching the impacted zones presents significant logistical hurdles, describing the region as "a war-torn country, unfortunately."
Rubio concluded by stating that further assistance measures would be made public soon, saying, "We'll have more to announce on that.
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We're going to lean into it pretty heavy."
