An Air France flight bound for Detroit was rerouted to Montreal on Wednesday after officials discovered that a passenger from the Democratic Republic of the Congo had boarded despite new travel restrictions designed to prevent Ebola from entering the United States.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection blocked the aircraft from landing at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and ordered it diverted to Canada instead. The passenger should never have been permitted to board under rules implemented just two days earlier, according to CBP.
"Due to entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus, the passenger should not have boarded the plane," a CBP spokesperson said. The agency coordinated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent what officials called a potential public health threat.
The incident occurred after the CDC and Department of Homeland Security unveiled emergency travel measures on Monday targeting the ongoing Ebola outbreaks in east and central Africa. The restrictions bar non-U.S. citizens who have spent time in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or South Sudan within the previous 21 days from entering the country. The order carries a 30-day expiration.
Beginning Thursday, DHS will enforce an additional layer of screening. All U.S.-bound flights carrying foreign nationals who visited Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the last three weeks must now land at Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia, where the federal government has concentrated enhanced public health screening resources.
The WHO reported Wednesday that the outbreak had produced nearly 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths, with numbers expected to climb. The organization confirmed 51 cases in the DRC, though officials acknowledged the true scale of the epidemic there is substantially higher. Uganda has confirmed two cases so far.
A U.S. citizen working in the DRC tested positive for Ebola and has been transferred to Germany for treatment.
Author James Rodriguez: "A passenger slipping through the cracks this easily, even for a few hours, suggests the early stages of any response are messier than officials want to admit."
Comments