ATLANTA — The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stepping up its response to an Ebola outbreak in Central Africa, expanding airport screening and deploying additional staff as health officials monitor the spread.
Dr. Satish Pillai, incident manager for the CDC’s Ebola response, said the risk in the United States remains low at this time.
“Outbreaks like this remind us that infectious diseases don’t respect borders,” Pillai said.
More than 50 CDC screeners are now stationed at four major U.S. airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and JFK Airport in New York, according to officials.
Officials said more than 230 CDC personnel are currently involved in the response effort.
Federal officials recently updated travel restrictions, allowing passengers who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the past 21 days to arrive through airports in Atlanta and Houston.
Earlier this week, health officials reported more than 900 Ebola cases and more than 220 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 101 cases and 10 deaths confirmed.
The head of the World Health Organization warned the outbreak “will get worse before it gets better.”
On Friday, a court in Kenya suspended a U.S. plan to establish a quarantine facility for Americans exposed to a rare Ebola strain spreading in northeastern Congo following backlash from medical workers and activists.
The White House task force for the 2026 FIFA World Cup recently said a special exception is being made for teams, as green card holders who have recently traveled to impacted countries within the last 21 days remain banned from entering the United States.