The latest outbreak of a rare strain of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda has prompted several governments to take action in a bid to stop the spread of the disease.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 220 suspected deaths and 900 suspected cases of the lethal Bundibugyo (BVD) strain of Ebola in DRC since Kinshasa declared the outbreak on May 15. In Uganda, five cases and one death have been confirmed.
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The United Nations health agency raised its risk assessment from high to very high at the national level for DRC last week, but continues to assess the risk as low at the global level.
Nevertheless, several countries have announced travel bans and temporary border measures to contain the spread of the new strain.
Efforts to contain the virus in affected countries
This week, the Congolese Ministry of Transport and Communications suspended all flights to and from Bunia in eastern DRC in an attempt to contain the Ebola outbreak. The Bunia health zone is one of 11 DRC health zones affected by the disease. Some exceptions, such as humanitarian, medical and emergency flights, may be allowed with special approval from aviation and health authorities.
Uganda has also introduced restrictions on travel to and from the DRC. All direct flights have been suspended, while bus and boat border crossings have been halted for four weeks. Weekly markets in border districts have been put on hold. Freight traffic, essential goods and food supplies, however, are still permitted to cross.
Countries imposing travel bans
Beyond the immediate affected region, Canada and the Bahamas said they would temporarily ban residents of the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan from entering.
Residents from those countries will be unable to travel to Canada for 90 days from Wednesday, the government said. Canadian citizens, permanent residents and other foreign nationals who have been in affected areas in recent weeks must quarantine for 21 days from May 30, even if they do not show symptoms, Canada’s public health agency said.
The Bahamian government said entry restrictions would take immediate effect and remain in place for a period of 30 days, subject to review by the Caribbean country’s health ministry.
Last week, the United States banned all non-citizens who had travelled to the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days from entering the country. On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) extended the ban to green card holders who have been in those countries in the previous 21 days.
US citizens who have travelled to affected countries have been told to return to the US via selected airports equipped with enhanced screening. These are Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) for flights to the US departing after May 21, 2026; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) for flights after May 22; and George Bush Intercontinental Airport, (IAH), Houston, for flights departing after May 26.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that the Trump administration is expected to deploy US public health officers to Kenya to staff a potential quarantine facility, intended for Americans who have been exposed to or are at high risk of testing positive for the virus in the region, as well as for those who have already tested positive.
Jordan suspended the entry of people arriving from the DRC and Uganda on May 19, according to the Jordanian state news agency. The same day, Bahrain, too, suspended the entry of foreign travellers arriving from South Sudan, the DRC and Uganda for 30 days.
No Ebola cases have been recorded in Canada, the Bahamas, the US, Jordan or Bahrain.
Countries stepping up screening
India has set up additional screening measures at major international airports, apart from issuing travel advisories asking its citizens to avoid visiting the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan.
New Delhi has also postponed an India-Africa summit it was scheduled to host this week, and called off a meeting of the International Big Cat Alliance, an India-led grouping of 95 nations that collaborate in the conservation of seven principal big cat species: tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, cheetah, jaguar, and puma. Many of the members of the alliance are from Africa.
Thailand has announced that visitors from the DRC and Uganda will only be allowed to enter from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, after testing negative during screening on arrival.
On Monday, Mexico’s health secretary also announced increased Ebola screening at airports.
Will these measures stop the spread of the virus?
The Bundibugyo strain is a rare, highly fatal species of the Ebola virus, which causes severe viral haemorrhagic fever. It spreads through close physical contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected or deceased person, as well as via contaminated objects. Therefore, measures limiting contact provide an effective way of containing infections.
At the national level in the DRC and Uganda, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus this week said the response included contact tracing, establishing treatment centres, and infection prevention and control.
However, “the delay in detecting the outbreak means that we are now playing catch-up with a very fast-moving epidemic”. “We are urgently scaling up operations, but at the moment, the epidemic is outpacing us,” he said.
“But we know this virus, and we know how to stop it,” Tedros added. “We have stopped every previous Ebola outbreak, and we will stop this one, too.”
Is air travel safe?
The United Nations has called on airlines and governments to stick strictly to protocols established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) during the global COVID-19 pandemic. These include using electronic health declarations and contactless border processes, it said on Tuesday.
The ICAO said that, for now, international flights are safe. It urged countries not to close borders or impose restrictions on travel or trade and to focus on exit screening for departing passengers, rather than entry screening for arrivals.
“Exit screening can be implemented in affected countries for all persons at international airports for unexplained illness associated with fever and consistent with other symptoms of potential BVD,” the ICAO said in a statement.
