US may block some Americans leaving DRC from return flights over Ebola risk

The United States said on Wednesday that American citizens who have traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo could be stopped from boarding return flights as part of efforts to reduce the risk of Ebola reaching the United States.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it and the Department of Homeland Security were working on a Do Not Board process for the Democratic Republic of Congo. The CDC said American citizens leaving the country may be subject to such an order, and that Americans can return to the United States 21 days after leaving the DRC.

The CDC later said it was conducting public health screenings of citizens departing the DRC to assess whether it should ask Homeland Security to issue a Do Not Board request for a particular passenger. The Department of Homeland Security posted the same statement on its X account.

The statement followed US media reports that the restriction had been in effect since Monday. Non-US citizens who had been in the central African country were already prevented from traveling to the United States.

More than 2,000 Ebola cases, including 754 deaths, have been recorded in the DRC. The World Health Organization has warned that the outbreak may be two to four times larger than official figures suggest. Congolese health authorities said on Wednesday that the outbreak had spread to five provinces.

The WHO said there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment for the Bundibugyo strain involved in this outbreak, but that the first clinical trial of an antiviral drug began Tuesday.