The United States has announced it is bolstering precautions to prevent the spread of Ebola, including screening air travellers from outbreak-hit areas and temporarily suspending visa services.
The public health measures shared by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday come as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the deadly Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo an international health emergency.
In a briefing, Satish Pillai, the health agency’s Ebola response incident manager, told journalists one American had contracted the virus following exposure related “to their work in the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
“The person developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday,” Pillai said, adding that efforts were underway to transport the individual to Germany for treatment.
The official added that the United States was attempting to evacuate six additional people for health monitoring.
Pillai said there are approximately 25 people working in the US field office in DRC, and that the CDC was fulfilling a request to send an additional senior technical coordinator.
“At this time, CDC assesses the immediate risk to the general US public as low, but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available,” the health agency said in a statement.
In addition to screening at airports, the CDC said it was implementing entry restrictions on non-US passport holders if they had travelled to Uganda, DRC or South Sudan within the past 21 days.
The US embassy in Kampala said it had temporarily paused all visa services, and that impacted applicants had been notified.
