Enhanced Ebola screening procedures are now implemented at the JFK Airport in New York in a bid to prevent the spread of Ebola in the U.S.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. will adopt more stringent measures when screening airport passengers following the incident with the now deceased Thomas Eric Duncan, who managed to ride a plane from Liberia to the U.S. regardless that he was infected with the highly fatal virus.
It did not take long before the Obama administration started to implement stricter airport screening. On Saturday, medical teams are already conducting screening procedures at the John F. Kennedy Airport. Using temperature guns and questionnaires, agents from the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP), directed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), screen travelers coming from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, which were the most badly hit of the Ebola epidemic that has so far claimed over 4,000 lives.
"CBP personnel will continue to observe all travelers entering the United States for general overt signs of illnesses at all U.S. ports of entry and these expanded screening measures will provide an additional layer of protection to help ensure the risk of Ebola in the United States is minimized," said Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The JFK Airport is the first in the country to adopt enhanced screening of U.S bound travellers from the three West African countries. Passengers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone typically touchdown in five airports: JFK, Newark Liberty, Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, which the CDC said in all receive more than 94 percent of the travellers coming from the Ebola-ravaged West African nations.
JFK started enhanced Ebola screening of airport passengers on Saturday. The airport received almost half of the U.S. bound travelers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from July 2013 to July 2014. Improved Ebola check in the four other airports will begin on Thursday.
Travelers from the Ebola-struck regions will go through second safety screening procedures which include temperature check, answering a health questionnaire and providing their contact details. Customs spokesman Steve Sapp said that individuals found exhibiting symptoms of the virus such as having temperature above 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit will be immediately quarantined at a CDC center inside the airport.
"Our hope is that the screening will improve vigilance and increase awareness about the Ebola disease for those individuals traveling from the affected areas," said CDC spokesman Jason McDonald.
