United States health authorities have stepped up Ebola precautions, introducing airport screening measures and restricting some travel after a new case was confirmed involving an American working in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The measures were announced by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as the World Health Organization declared the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a global health emergency.
According to CDC Ebola response incident manager Satish Pillai, the infected American developed symptoms over the weekend and tested positive late Sunday after exposure linked to work in the outbreak region.
He said efforts were underway to evacuate the patient to Germany for treatment, while six other individuals are also being moved for monitoring and medical evaluation.
The CDC said it has begun screening travellers arriving from affected countries, including Uganda, the DRC, and South Sudan, and has introduced tighter entry requirements for non-U.S. passport holders who have recently visited those regions.
In addition, the U.S. Embassy in Kampala has temporarily suspended visa processing services as part of the response.
Officials stressed that the risk to the general public remains low, but said surveillance and containment efforts are being expanded, including deploying additional CDC personnel to affected areas and supporting contact tracing and laboratory testing.
The outbreak has already caused dozens of suspected deaths and hundreds of infections across parts of Central Africa, prompting renewed concern over regional spread and global preparedness.
