U.S. Will Stop Ebola Screenings for Air Passengers from Liberia

The country was declared Ebola-free—for the second time—on Sept. 3

Federal agencies have decided to end the mandatory screening for air travelers arriving in the U.S. via Liberia, effective Monday.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Customs and Borders Protection decided to remove Liberia from its list of countries requiring additional screening, USA Today reports. The screening, in which travelers fill out questionnaires and have their temperatures checked, is currently conducted at five airports in the U.S. that service connecting flights from West Africa.

The World Health Organization declared Liberia, once at the epicenter of the Ebola outbreak, free of the disease earlier this month on Sept. 3. The organization had said Liberia was Ebola-free in May, but infections reappeared this summer.

The two other countries hit hardest by Ebola, Sierra Leone and Guinea, still see new cases. Passengers traveling from Guinea and Sierra Leone will continue to be screened at airports.

So far, border patrol has screened almost 31,000 passengers. Of those, 68 have been found to have high temperatures, and 40 were brought to medical facilities for non-Ebola conditions. The others were determined by the CDC not to require additional screening

[USA Today]