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Uganda is struggling with a new outbreak of the Ebola virus, for which there is no approved vaccine.
As a result, starting at midnight on Thursday, the US will divert travelers coming from Uganda to five different airports where they will be screened for the virus.
All travelers who have been to Uganda in the 21 days prior to landing in the US will be forwarded to one of the five airports.
According to the New York Times, there are 44 confirmed cases of the deadly virus in the East African country and 10 deaths. Those numbers make it the largest outbreak in the country in two decades.
At least four of those deaths and six of the cases occurred among health professionals.
Five US airports will be set up with Ebola screening stations for passengers arriving from Uganda
The East African country is experiencing the largest outbreak of the deadly virus in 20 years
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously issued a notice directing passengers from Uganda to be diverted to five U.S. airports where they will be screened for the deadly virus
While there are no direct flights to the US from Uganda, passengers arriving through other countries are diverted to five airports for screenings: JFK International Airport in New York, Washington-Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, Newark Liberty International Airport in New York. York Jersey, Chicago-O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta – the same airports where screenings were conducted in 2014 during the last major outbreak of the Ebola virus.
The Biden administration prepares for an increase in Uganda’s number of cases
Passengers receive temperature and risk assessment checks, as well as a visual symptom check. They will also be asked to confirm contact details and US state and local health departments will contact travelers three weeks after the date they left Uganda.
Doctors, if they suspect patients have Ebola, are insisted to obtain patient travel histories.
A medical attendant disinfects a man’s rubber gloves before leaving the Ebola isolation ward at Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in Mubende, Uganda, Thursday, September 29, 2022.
Members of the Ugandan medical staff of the Ebola treatment unit stand in the personal protective equipment (PPE) ward of Mubende Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda on September 24, 2022
Relatives of a woman who died of Ebola prepare her grave in Kijavuzo village, Mubende district, Uganda, Thursday, September 29, 2022
Ebola is a rare and deadly disease that mainly occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. The infection starts with mild respiratory symptoms but can quickly progress to a disease that, if left untreated, can quickly damage internal organs.
Eventually, patients begin to bleed from their eyes, nose, mouth, and rectum.
On average, the disease kills about half of those infected, usually within 14 days of the onset of symptoms.
The disease is highly contagious but spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and is not airborne.
The CDC message diverting passengers is not a travel ban, but is introduced out of an abundance of caution.
The Biden administration is preparing for an increase in the number of cases in Uganda. The current reported number is believed to be a significant undercount, according to a report by Bloomberg.
A call with thousands of U.S. health care providers is scheduled for Oct. 11. However, US health officials believe the current risk of Ebola spreading across the country is low.
The outbreak was first detected in Mubende, Uganda, but quickly spread to four other districts within a 120-kilometer radius.
Several shots targeting this strain of the virus are underway, according to the World Health Organization, and two may begin human trials in Uganda this month, according to the World Health Organization.
The largest previous outbreak of Ebola devastated West Africa in 2014, causing more than 11,000 deaths, including two Americans who contracted the disease in the US.
Previous vaccines and approved treatments for Ebola have targeted the Zaire strain of the disease, which is most common in West Africa. However, those treatments are ineffective against the East African Sudanese species, which are now circulating in Uganda.