The Biden administration on Friday said it had lifted travel restrictions for US visitors who have recently been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but left them in place for Guinea travelers over Ebola concerns.
In March, the Homeland Security Department (DHS) said travelers who had been in the two central African countries within the past 21 days must fly to one of six US airports – New York-JFK, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington Dulles, Newark or Los Angeles.
DHS said “the potential risk for Ebola virus exposure in the DRC has greatly diminished.”
The DRC had been on an Ebola vaccination campaign in Butembo, the epicentre of a previous outbreak that was declared over last year June.
The World Health Organisation in February deployed a team to the country after the death of a woman who had contracted the deadly virus.
SABC News Correspondent Chris Ocamringa elaborates on the deployment:
The Ebola virus causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea and is spread through contact with body fluids.
