Reuters / File Photo
The US will begin redirecting travelers from Uganda to five airports to screen for Ebola, as the East African country grapples with an outbreak of a strain of the virus for which there is no approved vaccine available.
The notice is not a travel ban or suspension on those coming from Uganda, but is being put in place out of an abundance of caution, according to a senior administration official, who asked not to be named as the matter has not yet been made public.
Earlier this week, the CDC had raised Uganda’s travel alert level, urging travelers to avoid non-essential travel to the country.
US health officials believe the current level of risk Ebola will spread in the US is considered low. The first case of the strain of Sudan ebolavirus, which also causes disease but is less common in outbreaks than the Zaire ebolavirus, was found in Uganda in September.
Since then, Uganda has found 63 confirmed and probable cases, with nearly half of the patients succumbing to the illness. The Zaire strain caused more recent outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, spurring rapid development and approval of a vaccine.
The vaccine, called Ervebo, is manufactured by Merck.
