The United States must prevent any cases of Ebola from entering the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and, where an outbreak has already caused a suspected 220 deaths and 900 cases, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
"We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States," Rubio told President Donald Trump at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
"The State Department and other agencies represented here, the Centres for Disease Control, others, are working very, very hard to contain this crisis to the countries where it's currently located, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and so we surged assistance to make sure that it is being contained there," Rubio said.
The US CDC last week imposed entry restrictions for 30 days on travellers who have been in the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan in the past 21 days, including lawful permanent residents, known as Green Card holders.
It is also screening people travelling from those countries at three US airports.
The DRC has faced 17 Ebola outbreaks, more than any other country.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has revised its risk assessment from high to very high in the country.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reckons the Ebola outbreak in the DRC is “spreading rapidly” and now poses a “very high” risk at the national level.
The global health body has deployed laboratory supplies, personal protective equipment, tents, and emergency response materials into affected areas, even amid severe global funding constraints.
