A number of countries have confirmed they are imposing travel restrictions that ban arrivals who might possibly have been exposed to the Ebola virus.
The moves come after the U.N. aviation agency urged governments and flight operators to closely follow guidelines put in place following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) has recorded 220 suspected deaths and 900 suspected cases of the lethal Bundibugyo (BVD) strain of Ebola in DRC since Kinshasa declared the outbreak on May 15, the BBC reports.
The Congolese Ministry of Transport and Communications suspended all flights to and from Bunia in eastern DRC in an attempt to contain the Ebola outbreak. The Bunia health zone is one of 11 DRC health zones affected by the disease.
Uganda has also introduced restrictions on travel to and from the DRC. All direct flights have been suspended, while bus and boat border crossings have been halted for four weeks. Weekly markets in border districts have been put on hold. Freight traffic, essential goods and food supplies, however, are still permitted to cross.
Beyond the immediate affected region, Canada and the Bahamas said they would temporarily ban residents of the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan from entering, as Breitbart News reported.
Last week, the United States banned all non-citizens who had travelled to the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from entering the country.
“We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted.
Thailand, Kenya, the Cayman Islands, and India have now launched screening and surveillance procedures of their own.
News of the fast spread of the virus along with border closures comes after it was announced a vaccine based on the same technology that delivered the AstraZeneca Covid-19 jab is being urgently developed by British scientists to help contain the deadly sub-strain enveloping the DRC and its neighbors, as Breitbart News reported.
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