U.S. President Barack Obama said that a ban on travel will not be imposed, but the U.S. will develop more rigorous screening of airline passengers arriving from West African countries and exiting the United States, according to Reuters.
There are protocols currently in place, "But we're also going to be working on protocols to do additional passenger screening, both at the source and here in the United States," Obama said.
The White House recognized that a travel embargo would slow the spread of Ebola, but Josh Earnest, spokesperson for the White House, said that aid to Ebola-stricken areas would also be hindered.
Airlines for America, a Washington-based trade group, separately said it would meet health and safety officials on Monday to discuss whether additional screening procedures anywhere in the world might help improve on those already in place, Reuters reported.
Presently, travelers leaving areas with Ebola outbreaks are asked to answer questions about possible symptoms or contact with individuals infected by the virus. Travelers in Liberia "are scanned for fever," according to Reuters.
Some U.S. health experts have suggested handheld scanners to up U.S. airport screenings.
"I'll be honest with you: Although we have seen interest on the part of the international community, we have not seen other countries step up," the president said. "We've had some small countries that are punching above their weight on this but we've got some large countries that aren't doing enough."
The Ebola virus is not an airborne contagion. The virus is spread by contact with bodily fluids that contain the Ebola virus.
"At this point, there is zero risk of transmission on the flight," said CDC Director Tom Frieden on Oct 1. "It does not spread from someone who doesn't have fever or other symptoms," he said, when referring to Thomas Eric Duncan's (a Dallas patient) recent travel.
The World Health Organization released a statement saying, "The risk of a traveler becoming infected with Ebola virus during a visit to the affected areas and developing the disease after returning is extremely low, even if the visit included travel to areas where primary cases have been reported."
The World Health Organization also stated that the outbreak in Nigeria is under control due to swift isolation and screening of people who had been in contact with an infected person, according to USA Today.
Obama said, according to ITV, that the Ebola virus is "spiraling out of control" in West Africa, and "our experts here at the CDC and across our government agree that the chances of an Ebola outbreak here in the United States are extremely low."
