The CDC announced today that, beginning Monday, travelers to the United States from the three West African countries suffering Ebola outbreaks will be required to report in daily with state and local health officials monitoring them for potential symptoms of the disease. Passengers from Guinea, Liberia, or Sierra Leone will be required to provide contact information for themselves and at least one friend or relative to health officials upon arrival; according to the Huffington Post, CDC director Tom Frieden said those who do not check in will be tracked down with a “rapid planned follow-up.” From the New York Times:
State and local health departments will be required to have plans for finding and potentially detaining anyone who fails to check in.
Each visitor … will be given a packet with a thermometer, instructions on its use, a card describing Ebola symptoms, and a card to be given to a doctor or nurse if the visitor develops symptoms and is ordered to go to an emergency room or other health care facility.
The regulation applies to all travelers, including U.S. citizens. The CDC had previously announced that travelers to the United States whose flights originate in any of the three stricken West African countries will only be allowed to fly into one of five international airports.
