Frygten for at “Dødens fortrop” – den farlige ebola-virus – når Amerikas kyster er så udbredt, at politikere i Kongressen i Washington D.C. er begyndt at tale om et rejseforbud fra de tre værst ramte lande i Vestafrika og nu ligger også et lovforslag på bordet.
NEW YORK, 20 October 2014 (IRIN): Since the death of Liberian national Thomas Eric Duncan in Texas on 8 October and the Ebola infection of two US nurses that treated him, there have been increasing calls by US lawmakers to ban travel from the countries most affected by the virus – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
On 16 October, Republican representative Dennis Ross from Florida revealed a draft bill that would ban travel from countries experiencing an outbreak of the Ebola virus.
The congressman said in a statement: “Ebola has a death rate of 50 percent. How can you ignore this fact, and take a gamble with American lives by allowing people to travel to and from countries where the virus is quickly spreading?”
Rep. Ross’s proposed bill, the “Contain Ebola and Stop the Epidemic (CEASE) Act”, is slim on details.
It would “ban the arrival of any commercial aircraft from a country in which the Ebola virus disease has reached epidemic proportions as determined by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and to deny a visa to any individual whose travel itinerary includes a departure from such a country.”
Støtte fra 70 medlemmer af Kongressen
The idea of a travel ban is one that has already garnered the support of more than 70 members of Congress.
Lawmakers are taking this position despite the fact that there are not currently any regularly scheduled commercial flights from Guinea, Liberia or Sierra Leone to the US.
The travel ban would not affect the US military’s Ebola assistance efforts to West Africa or the CDC’s response.
Opponents of the ban in Congress have been outspoken.
Democratic representative Jan Schakowsky from Illinois said on 16 October: “Do we really want to essentially quarantine West Africa so that people have a hard time coming or going?… We cannot build a wall around the United States.”
But can you build a wall around three countries in West Africa?
Læs videre på
http://www.irinnews.org/report/100736/ebola-can-you-quarantine-west-africa
Begynd fra: “Not really. Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone are all….”
