With the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus on US soil by an American man infected with the virus was allowed to enter the United States on his way back from Liberia, many are questioning the safety measures put in place to prevent the spread of the deadly virus in the country.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has very limited special procedures to screen for potentially Ebola-infected travelers coming to America.
Customs agents on Wednesday started handing out "fact sheets" prepared by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describing Ebola symptoms to travelers coming back from West African nations, but more can be done.
When Thomas Eric Duncan — the man who brought Ebola to Dallas this week— went through screening procedures in Liberia, he was checked for signs of the disease, including fever, and filled out a form where he had to answer whether he had experienced any Ebola symptoms and whether he had been in contact with anyone infected.
But once he set foot in the U.S., Duncan didn't have to fill out any questionnaire, and didn't go through any special screening procedures.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have been trained by the CDC to be on the lookout for patients that show symptoms of the disease, but if a traveler has none, she can just go through customs like any other traveler.
Now travelers from Ebola-stricken countries are given fact sheets, warning of symptom of the disease.
"You were given this card because you arrived to the United States from a country with Ebola." the fact sheet, embedded at the end of this post, reads. "If you were exposed to Ebola during your trip, call your doctor even if you do not have symptoms."
Other than the fact sheet, though, it's business as usual.
"It's standard procedure except for the fact that CBP has began distributing the CDC fact sheet," a border protection spokesperson told Mashable on Thursday.
For some public health experts, though, that falls short.
Referring to the form that travelers in Liberia and other West African countries have to fill out, Saleh Rahman, a public health professor at Florida A&M University's Behavioral Science and Health Education at the Institute of Public Health, said that the U.S. "should have a similar type of questionnaire."
"I have tremendous trust [in the CDC], if they felt that it was necessary they would have issued it already, however, it's probably a time to think about it since we're getting several cases now," he told Mashable. "Probably we should rethink and pay a little bit more attention to that option."
Other countries, such as Australia, are already asking travelers from countries affected by Ebola to fill out a form, Rahman said, why shouldn't the U.S.?
Asked if that's part of the plan in the future, the CDC declined to answer, sending instead a statement that explains the current procedures.
"Though not always visible," the statement read, "CDC is monitoring arriving travelers for signs of infectious diseases, including Ebola, at U.S. airports, seaports, or land borders through partners who serve as our 'eyes and ears.'"
Here's the fact sheet prepared by the CDC that's being handed out at U.S. airports.
Source: MASHABLE
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