Should We Ban Flights From Countries With Ebola Outbreaks?

Diagnosis of the first US Ebola case was followed by petitions demanding travel bans from West Africa. But modern airline travel entails multiple connections, and travel bans would not work, explains Vauhini Vara for the New Yorker. Bans would disrupt economies and slow transfer of essential supplies and personnel required to stem the infectious disease. Determined individuals could circumvent bans. Also, the United States is on the World Health Organization list of affected nations. Tom Frieden, US Centers for Disease Control director, points out that a ban could discourage aid workers from traveling to West Africa to support care. Hospitals should be vigilant on patient travel histories and Ebola’s early symptoms, and Frieden argued it’s in the global interest to assist West African nations – that compassionate, competent care could do more to deter deception than tough enforcement. The US is screening for passengers from West Africa, collecting temperatures, but that would not have caught the first patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, who has since died in a Texas hospital. – YaleGlobal