Airport Exit and Entry Screening for Ebola — August–November 10, 2014

In response to the largest recognized Ebola virus disease epidemic now occurring in West Africa, the governments of affected countries, CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other international organizations have collaborated to implement strategies to control spread of the virus. One strate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2014-12, Vol.63 (49), p.1163-1167
Main Authors: Brown, Clive M., Aranas, Aaron E., Benenson, Gabrielle A., Brunette, Gary, Cetron, Marty, Chen, Tai-Ho, Cohen, Nicole J., Diaz, Pam, Haber, Yonat, Hale, Christa R., Holton, Kelly, Kohl, Katrin, Lee, Amanda W., Palumbo, Gabriel J., Pearson, Kate, Phares, Christina R., Alvarado-Ramy, Francisco, Roohi, Shah, Rotz, Lisa D., Tappero, Jordan, Washburn, Faith M., Watkins, James, Pesik, Nicki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa, Western - epidemiology
Air travel
Airport security
Airports
Border protection
Disease transmission
Ebola virus
Ebola virus infections
Epidemics - prevention & control
Fever
Health aspects
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - epidemiology
Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola - prevention & control
Humans
Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data
Public health
Risk Assessment
Symptoms
Travel
Travelers
United States - epidemiology
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Summary:In response to the largest recognized Ebola virus disease epidemic now occurring in West Africa, the governments of affected countries, CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other international organizations have collaborated to implement strategies to control spread of the virus. One strategy recommended by WHO calls for countries with Ebola transmission to screen all persons exiting the country for "unexplained febrile illness consistent with potential Ebola infection." Exit screening at points of departure is intended to reduce the likelihood of international spread of the virus. To initiate this strategy, CDC, WHO, and other global partners were invited by the ministries of health of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to assist them in developing and implementing exit screening procedures. Since the program began in August 2014, an estimated 80,000 travelers, of whom approximately 12,000 were en route to the United States, have departed by air from the three countries with Ebola transmission. Procedures were implemented to deny boarding to ill travelers and persons who reported a high risk for exposure to Ebola; no international air traveler from these countries has been reported as symptomatic with Ebola during travel since these procedures were implemented.
ISSN:0149-2195
1545-861X