U.S. Temporarily Bans Green-Card Holders Who Visited Three African Nations

U.S. authorities issued an order on Friday that temporarily bars green-card holders from entering the country if they have visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan within the last 21 days. The order is part of an effort to prevent the spread of Ebola.

A previous restriction had applied only to travelers without U.S. passports and had exempted U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents.

The order states that allowing the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or another delegate to prohibit entry of certain lawful permanent residents is reasonably required in the interest of public health. It notes that green-card holders may maintain stronger ties outside the U.S., making entry restrictions comparatively less burdensome.

U.S. citizens returning from the three countries now have a second point of entry. Officials also expanded enhanced Ebola screening to include an additional major airport, citing resource constraints for containing quarantinable diseases.

The World Health Organization raised the risk of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola turning into a national outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to very high and declared the situation in the DRC and Uganda an emergency of international concern.

The WHO reports 82 confirmed cases and seven confirmed deaths in the DRC, along with 177 suspected deaths and nearly 750 suspected cases. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention stated that ten African countries are at risk. Reports indicate that residents in one eastern DRC town attacked and burned part of a health center, and 18 people suspected of infection left the facility.

Another treatment center was burned after family members were barred from retrieving a body. Authorities in northeastern DRC have banned funeral wakes and gatherings of more than 50 people. The entry ban on green-card holders is set for an initial 30 days.