DHS begins enhanced screening from West Africa at five airports

The Department of Homeland Security has announced Tuesday that all travelers arriving from Ebola outbreak countries in West Africa will be transited through one of five domestic U.S. airports that are equipped with enhanced screening.

The enhanced screening will apply to travelers who arrive from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea was expanded on October 16th to Washington’s Dulles (IAD), Chicago’s O’Hare (ORD), New Jersey’s Newark (EWR) and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL) airports. New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport began enhanced screening on October 11th.

The enhanced screening procedure will be carried out by Customs and Border Protection agents at the five above mentioned airports.

According to a statement from the CDC and DHS, travelers will have their temperatures taken with a “non-contact thermometer.” CBP agents also will also observe the passengers for “signs of illness” and ask questions regarding contact with the virus and about any symptoms. Passangers who have a fever or other symptoms, or who reveal information pointing to a possible Ebola exposure, will be “evaluated by a CDC quarantine station public health official.

CBP agents will also be handing out information sheets to arriving passengers with detailed information of what symptoms passengers should be on the look for and directions to seek medical attention should they become sick within 21 days, which is the incubation period for the Ebola virus.

Source: USA Today