US tightens curbs after American citizen tests positive for Ebola

The Trump administration announced immediate entry restrictions for non-US citizens traveling from parts of Africa after an American citizen tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.

Washington: The Trump administration announced new travel restrictions and emergency measures after an American citizen tested positive for a strain of Ebola in Africa, even as officials stressed there were currently no cases inside the United States.

The announcement came during a White House event where President Donald Trump was asked whether Americans should be concerned about the outbreak. “I’m concerned about everything,” Trump said. “It’s been confined right now to Africa, but it’s something that has had a breakout.”

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Trump then invited a senior administration health official, identified during the briefing as Dr Heidi Overton, to provide details on the government’s response.

Overton said the United States had launched a “full interagency response” involving the State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Department of War. “There is an American that is symptomatic and has tested positive for the Bundibugyo virus, a strain of Ebola,” she said.

She added that the infected American and six other high-risk contacts would be evacuated from the affected region and transferred to Germany for treatment at a specialised viral haemorrhagic fever facility. “We want to thank our German counterparts,” Overton said. “That is an internationally recognised location for viral haemorrhagic fever treatments.”

The administration also announced immediate entry restrictions for non-US citizens who had recently travelled to Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo and South Sudan.

“We have instituted just today entry restrictions for non-US citizens that have been in the region in the past 21 days,” Overton said. She said travel warnings had already been issued for Americans in the region and stressed that authorities were taking “very serious measures” to prevent the virus from reaching the United States.

“Right now there are no cases of Ebola in America,” she said. “We want to keep it that way.”

The Bundibugyo strain is one of several known forms of the Ebola virus and can cause severe haemorrhagic fever in humans. Symptoms often include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding.  The virus spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

The White House comments came shortly after the CDC held a separate press briefing on the outbreak and ongoing containment efforts in Africa.

US officials did not disclose the precise location of the infected American but said the case remained linked to the outbreak zone.