– US tightens travel restrictions –
The recovery of Ashoka Mukpo, the US freelance cameraman who fell ill in Liberia, may slightly ease concerns in the United States, but authorities are also responding to public pressure with stricter controls for travelers 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 funneled 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 travelers 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 urging a 21-day quarantine for Americans exposed to Ebola.
“Containment is the key to stopping the spread of this highly contagious and deadly disease,” said a group of 16 lawmakers who have worked as doctors or nurses in a letter to Obama.
Obama has urged against Ebola “hysteria” and cited experts saying a travel ban would be counterproductive.
Travelers from affected regions would simply change their travel plans to evade screening, he said, making Ebola even harder to track.
He is due to meet with his newly named Ebola response coordinator, Ron Klain, on Wednesday.
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