The US has now temporarily banned the entry of lawful residents, including green-card holders, who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the last 21 days, over concerns about the spread of a deadly treatment-resistant strain of the Ebola virus.
Previously, US citizens, nationals and green-card holders had been exempt from a 30-day ban from entering the country, but now green-card holders have been added to the list.
“Applying this authority to lawful permanent residents for a limited period of time provides a balance between protecting public health and managing emergency response resources,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement.
On Friday, the World Health Organization raised the risk level to “very high” that the outbreak of the Bundigbyo strain of Ebola would become a national outbreak in the Congo, after declaring the outbreak there and in Uganda an “emergency of international concern.”
The CDC issued the ban under Title 42 of US Public Health law, which allows federal authorities to prevent migrants entering the US in order to halt the spread of contagious diseases.
Historically, green-card holders have not been subject to entry restrictions. They were exempt from the CDC’s Title 42 order during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they have also been exempt from President Trump’s travel bans since returning to office.
The current Ebola outbreak is the 17th in the Congo since 1976.
So far there have been nearly 200 suspected deaths there.
The case-fatality rate for the Bundigbyo strain is between 25% and 50%, which is lower than the more common Zaire strain’s 50-90%. However, no approved treatments exist for the Bundigbyo strain, unlike the Zaire.
The spread of the disease in Congo is exacerbated by the ongoing conflict and displacement of hundreds of thousands of Congolese, especially in the Ituri province.
3 Responses
What do these people need to come to the US for? ……other than free shit.
It’s so stupid it defies logic: ‘UK Scientists Working on Ebola Vaccine Based on AstraZeneca Covid-19 Jab’. They just need to work out that pesky detail where the genetic therapy shot kills the host…faster than the targeted disease.
Unless, you know, they want you dead.
We know that the cure for Ebola in the USA is to vote republican. During the Obama midterms Ebola totally disappeared the day after the election. Odd that.