Rwanda to Screen Travelers From the United States
Breanna Edwards
An airport worker wears a protective face mask in the arrivals area of Los Angeles International Airport as the U.S. announced increased passenger screenings against the Ebola virus on Oct. 9, 2014.
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Rwanda, an East African nation far away from the Ebola outbreak, has now begun to screen visitors from the U.S. and other places that have had cases of Eboa, according to a message posted on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda.
The announcement comes shortly after a New Jersey elementary school announced that two Rwandan children who had recently moved to the area were being kept home from classes because of Ebola concerns from parents, even though Rwanda is approximately 2,600 miles away from the affected West African region.
The new screening procedure requires all visitors to Rwanda who have been in the U.S. or Spain within the last 22 days to report their medical condition, whether or not they have symptoms of the deadly virus, which has killed more than 4,500 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Visitors who have high temperatures (about 99.5) will not be allowed into the country, and returning residents will be quarantined. Visitors who have been in the most affected areas may also be denied entry or "denied boarding from the originating or transit airport."
"We urge U.S. citizens who may have a fever or who have traveled to countries where an Ebola outbreak has occurred to weigh carefully whether travel to Rwanda at this time is prudent given measures to screen incoming visitors. Please note neither the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs nor the U.S. Embassy have authority over quarantine issues and cannot prevent a U.S. citizen from being quarantined should local health authorities require it," the website reads, pointing out that as of Oct. 19, there have been no cases of Ebola in the sovereign state (unlike in the U.S.).
See the screening advisory here.