Despite the acknowledgement of the
United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta
that the Ebola outbreak has been nearly contained in Nigeria, managers
at George Bush Intercontinental Airport met ahead of a direct flight
from Nigeria that arrived in Houston early Thursday morning, to discuss
plans to effectively screen all passengers for the Ebola virus.
The decision is a fallout of the Ebola
patient and Liberian national, Thomas Eric Duncan, who flew into Dallas
from Liberia on September 20 and was later diagnosed to have been
infected with the virus in the US.
Thomas Eric Duncan, the patient
currently being treated in the Dallas area, boarded a flight from
Liberia on Sept. 19 and arrived in Texas on Sept. 20.United Airlines
said Wednesday that it was told by the CDC that Duncan had used the
airline to travel from Brussels to Dulles International Airport outside
Washington, D.C., before flying from Dulles to Dallas-Fort Worth.
Several African nations have restricted
or banned air travel from Ebola-stricken countries, and airlines
including Kenya Airways, British Airways, Air Cote D’Ivoire and
Nigeria’s Arik Air have suspended flights from the countries.
If a passenger is sick or has a fever,
they won’t fly. According to the CDC, “a U.S. Department of
Transportation rule permits airlines to deny boarding to air travelers
with serious contagious diseases that could spread during flight,
including travelers with possible Ebola symptoms. This rule applies to
all flights of U.S. airlines, and to direct flights (no change of
planes) to or from the United States by foreign airlines.”
Three airlines operate direct flights
from Murtala Muhammad International Airport (MMIA), Lagos to US cities,
in addition to several connecting flights from Europe, Asia and the
Middle East that fly passengers originating from Nigeria.
Arik Air has a direct flight to New York
thrice a week, Delta Airlines has daily flights from Lagos to Atlanta,
while United Airlines operates daily flights from Lagos to Houston.
