Twenty-one days, one signature. That's the new price of boarding any flight to the United States, from anywhere in the world, starting the night of Tuesday, November 3rd. It's Friday, October 23rd, and you're listening to Ebola Watch. First, the CDC order behind that signature. Then a sharper dispute over where Nigeria's first patient actually spent her trip.
From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in an order issued Thursday:
Beginning November 3, 2026, all passengers boarding an international flight to the United States must attest (sign a statement) that they have not been present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the 21 days before boarding a flight to the United States.
All passengers. So if I'm flying home from London, I'm signing this too? You are. The CDC says it covers U.S. citizens, green card holders, private planes, and people only connecting through an American airport. Airlines must refuse boarding to anyone who doesn't complete it, and keep each form for 42 days in case CDC asks for it. And if someone just checks the box? The order points to federal law on false statements, which carries criminal fines and possible prison time. The CDC also defines being present strictly. A layover at a Congolese airport counts, even if you never leave the plane. You can fly to the U.S. starting on day 22 after leaving, a window CDC says matches Ebola's maximum incubation period. Weren't people coming from Congo already barred? According to Reuters, as carried by India Today, CDC barred airline passengers who'd been in Congo within 21 days back in May and extended that to U.S. citizens in July. Separately, foreign nationals who've been in Uganda or South Sudan in the past three weeks are barred from entry. What's new is that every traveler now puts it in writing. CDC is briefing airlines on compliance today. Here's what jumps out at me. The form only names Congo. Not Kenya, not Nigeria, which are the two countries with new imported cases. Correct, it's Congo-specific. And not everyone likes the approach. Africa CDC's director general, Jean Kaseya, told the BBC this week that Western countries shouldn't impose travel restrictions, and that collaboration and solidarity are what will stop the outbreak. CDC says no cases tied to this outbreak have been reported in the United States. So the practical advice is to check your connections. Routing through Kinshasa now costs you three weeks.
Makuochi Okafor and Simi Jolaoso, reporting for the BBC:
Pate and Kaseya's comments contradict a statement issued earlier by the Ugandan ministry of health, which described the woman as a Nigerian national who had gone to eastern DR Congo for business, only transiting through Uganda.
Yesterday this was Uganda's version against Nigeria's silence. Now Nigeria's talking. It is. Health Minister Muhammad Pate told the BBC the patient spent two and a half weeks in Kampala, with a two-hour stopover in Addis Ababa on the way home. Kaseya says she's originally from Uganda, lives in Abuja, and went to Kampala on holiday. Does anyone back that up? Per the Associated Press, Africa CDC's Wessam Mankoula says there's so far no indication she traveled to Congo. WHO's country representative in Nigeria, Pavel Ursu, says the information given to WHO didn't include travel to another country. Uganda says she went to Congo and that it has no confirmed active cases. Officially, where she was infected is unresolved. What else did the AP get? Mankoula says Kenya's first patient and Nigeria's patient both passed through Entebbe International Airport on October 3rd. Africa CDC is investigating whether they interacted there. That's being investigated, not confirmed. Two travelers, one airport, one day. That would explain a lot, if it holds up. It would. On her contacts, Pate says 44 are being traced and none are known to have developed symptoms. Mankoula says more have been identified but wouldn't give a figure. Nigeria's aviation minister says 46 people, those contacts plus two household workers, are barred from boarding flights. Pate says she's stable and improving.
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We're off for the weekend. On Monday, October 26th, we'll look at whether Kenya's quarantined contacts start clearing their monitoring periods, and what Nigeria's contacts show. Ebola Watch is a Lantern Podcast. Read the fine print before you fly, and we'll see you Monday.