Ebola emergency leaves US flights diverted to one city airport | US | News
Healthcare organizations around the world are fighting against the growing threat (Image: Getty)
As concerns grow about the deadly Ebola epidemic, flights from many countries to the USA are being diverted to Washington DC.
It was reported that the uncommon Ebola strain killed 139 people, and 600 cases were linked to the spreading virus. The WHO has declared a public health emergency of international concern, problematic due to the “scale and speed” of the outbreak. The WHO chief in Congo suggests the outbreak could last at least two months.
A new DHS regulation to be released Thursday will require all U.S.-bound flights carrying passengers who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan to land at Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
It will affect travelers who visited these countries at any time in the last 21 days. The measures are intended to direct people “where the U.S. government is focusing public health resources to implement enhanced public health measures.”
While the rare form of Ebola, known as Bundibugyo virus, circulated undetected for weeks after the first known death, authorities tested for another, more common Ebola virus, and received negative results.
Read more: Experts in UK call for Ebola border controls over ‘extremely worrying’ outbreak
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In a statement released to CBS News, a DHS spokesperson confirmed that Customs and Border Protection has “enhanced public health screening, travel monitoring, and health protection response activities.” The DHS spokesperson added that officials will work with “airlines, international partners, and port of entry authorities to identify and manage travelers who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus.”
Redirects are already being made. An Air France flight from Paris to Detroit, Michigan, was urgently diverted to Canada on Wednesday in compliance with U.S. flight restrictions related to the Ebola outbreak after authorities discovered a passenger had traveled from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Due to entry restrictions implemented to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the aircraft,” a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement. he said.
Anaïs Legand of the WHO’s emergency program said investigations were ongoing into the exact origin and timing of the outbreak, but “given the scale, we think it probably started several months ago.” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday that 51 cases have been confirmed so far in Congo’s northern provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, and two in Uganda. There are 139 suspicious deaths and approximately 600 suspicious cases.
The epidemic was declared a global emergency (Image: Getty)
Still, he cautioned, “the scale of the epidemic is much larger.” The London-based MRC Center for Global Analysis of Infectious Diseases has suggested that cases are significantly underreported and the true figure may already be in excess of 1,000.
“The actual size remains unclear,” he said. This represents the 17th Ebola outbreak in Congo, and WHO said the country’s health ministry was making the necessary preparations in personnel and resources to mount a response. However, the majority of past outbreaks involved the more common strain of Ebola.
Concerned health workers in eastern Congo revealed Wednesday that they lack adequate protective equipment and training as a fast-spreading Ebola outbreak involving an unusual strain of the virus unfolds in one of the world’s most remote and vulnerable regions.
The World Health Organization, which assessed the global risk as low, stated that “patient zero” had not been detected.
“It’s really sad and painful because we’ve already been through a security crisis and now Ebola is here too,” said Justin Ndasi, a Bunia resident.
There are still months until the vaccine (Image: Getty)
Tons of medical equipment were flown to Bunia, where the first confirmed death was recorded last week, but residents observed that masks were becoming increasingly difficult to obtain and some disinfectants, previously priced at 2,500 Congolese francs (about $1), were now four times more expensive.
At a treatment center in Rwampara, relatives wept and watched as medical workers in protective suits carefully disinfected the remains of their loved ones who were suspected Ebola victims and placed them in coffins for safe burial sites.
Eyewitnesses stated that the disease appeared without warning and quickly worsened after symptoms were confused with conditions such as malaria. “He told me his heart hurt,” said Botwine Swanze, who lost his son. “Then he started crying because of the pain. … Then he started bleeding profusely and vomiting.”
Ebola virus is highly contagious and spreads between people through direct contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.
