THE notice on the US Embassy’s website reads “the Rwandan Ministry of Health introduced new Ebola Virus Disease screening requirements. Visitors who have been in the United States or Spain during the last 22 days are now required to report their medical condition—regardless of whether they are experiencing symptoms of Ebola”.
This new regulation provides a twist in the fight against Ebola narrative which has seen Africans across the globe go through extra screening and, some say, harassed by Western nations for fear they may carry the deadly virus.
It also comes at a time when, coincidentally or not, a New Jersey school in the US prompted parents of two Rwandese children to keep their children at home for 21 days after there was uproar over the imminent enrolment.
This is despite the fact that Rwanda is located approximately 4,200km away from Liberia, the closest of the three West African countries with the majority Ebola cases. While Rwanda has no cases of Ebola, the US and Spain have both recorded deaths from Ebola.
The hemorrhagic fever, for which there is no licensed vaccine or cure, has hit hardest in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, but the cases among health workers in Spain and the United States raised fears of the epidemic spreading globally.
The more comforting news is that recovery is possible, even as the latest outbreak touches 70% fatality rates. In West Africa, medical charity MSF, at the forefront of the Ebola fight, announced Tuesday it had saved a 1,000th patient from the deadly virus. The United States however is taking no chances and has this week tightened restrictions on travellers from the West African countries at the epicenter of the outbreak.
Responding to public pressure, US authorities are imposing stricter controls for travellers from affected countries. One Liberian with Ebola arrived in Dallas, Texas and infected at least two US health workers before dying, piling pressure on President Barack Obama’s government to impose a flight ban.
New measures will go into effect Wednesday that will see passengers arriving in the United States from the worst-affected three West African countries funnelled into five airports with extra health checks.
There are no direct scheduled flights to the United States from the three countries at the heart of the Ebola epidemic, but travellers from the region can transfer through African and European hubs.
However, a number of US lawmakers from both parties insisted the measures did not go far enough. They sought a suspension of visas from the three hardest hit countries, and some urged a 21-day quarantine for Americans exposed to Ebola.
Cases continue to soar in West Africa, where more than 4,500 people have died. The epidemic is already the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Experts warn the infection rate could reach 10,000 a week by early December.
The Guardian
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