DHS ends extra Ebola screening of travelers

WASHINGTON –  Federal authorities will no longer screen travelers arriving in the U.S. from West African countries for Ebola after the CDC declared the outbreak of the often fatal disease over.

The Department of Homeland Security began extra screening on Oct. 11, 2014, three days after Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, died from Ebola in Dallas after arriving from Liberia. The extra screening applied to travelers who recently visited Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. During the 16 months, officials screened 42,000 travelers from the region.

“During this time not a single traveler exhibiting Ebola symptoms is known to have entered the country undetected,” DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said.

Ebola is transferred through bodily fluids, such as blood or vomit, rather than through the air like the flu. Still, the disease sparked widespread panic because it typically kills half the people who become infected.

After Duncan died, two healthcare workers who treated him became ill in October 2014, but they were treated and recovered. A New York City doctor fell ill that October after returning from treating Ebola patients in Guinea, and he recovered.

Customs and Border Protection targeted five major airports where 94% of travelers from West Africa arrive: New York’s John F. Kennedy, New Jersey’s Newark, Chicago O’Hare, Washington Dulles and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson. Officials asked travelers from stricken countries whether they had contact with sick people. Travelers also had their temperature checked. Travelers also learned how to monitor their own health, and several dozen people with fevers were sent for medical care.

Customs also enhanced screening at all other ports of entry, to scrutinize the remaining 6% of travelers from the region.

Year of airport screening doesn't catch Ebola

Feds to end Ebola screening for air travelers from Liberia

Federal officials ceased extra screening for travelers from Liberia in September. On Thursday, after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared the outbreak over, Johnson ended the extra screening.

Border officers will continue routine monitoring of all arriving travelers for illness, he said.

“I am proud of the men and women of DHS who executed this coordinated, fast-moving, and effective response to an unprecedented public health emergency,” Johnson said.