US tightens curbs after American citizen tests positive for Ebola

The administration of US President Donald Trump announced emergency travel restrictions and containment measures after an American citizen tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in Africa, while insisting there were currently no cases inside the United States.

The announcement came during a White House event where Trump was asked whether Americans should be worried about the outbreak spreading beyond Africa.

“I’m concerned about everything,” Trump told reporters. “It’s been confined right now to Africa, but it’s something that has had a breakout.”

Trump then turned to senior administration health official Dr Heidi Overton, who outlined what she described as a “full interagency response” involving the US State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of War.

“There is an American that is symptomatic and has tested positive for the Bundibugyo virus, a strain of Ebola,” Overton said during the briefing.

She said the infected American, along with six other high-risk contacts, would be medically evacuated from the outbreak region and transferred to Germany for treatment at a specialised viral haemorrhagic fever facility.

“We want to thank our German counterparts,” Overton said. “That is an internationally recognised location for viral haemorrhagic fever treatments.”

The Trump administration also announced immediate entry restrictions targeting non-US citizens who had recently travelled to affected parts of Africa, including Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.

“We have instituted just today entry restrictions for non-US citizens that have been in the region in the past 21 days,” Overton said.

US officials added that travel warnings had already been issued for Americans currently in the affected region and said authorities were taking “very serious measures” to prevent the virus from reaching American soil.

“Right now there are no cases of Ebola in America,” Overton stressed. “We want to keep it that way.”

The Bundibugyo strain is one of several known forms of the Ebola virus and can cause severe haemorrhagic fever in humans. Symptoms typically include fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in severe cases, internal bleeding. The virus spreads through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

The White House remarks came shortly after the CDC held a separate press briefing on containment efforts linked to the outbreak in Africa. US officials did not reveal the precise location of the infected American but said the case remained connected to the active outbreak zone.

With IANS inputs