All travelers from countries affected by the Ebola epidemic will have their temperature monitored for 21 days after arriving in six states in the U.S., including Georgia, federal health officials said today.
The new measures begin Monday and will help health officials track individuals during the 21-day period in which people can come down with Ebola after being exposed, said Thomas Frieden, director of the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When passengers arrive at airports in the six states, they will be given instructions, a log and a thermometer to use to report their temperature daily through the 21-day period. They will give officials contact information including their address, phone number and email. It will be up to the individual health officials in the states to determine how to best obtain people’s daily temperature readings. The methods might include self-reporting or having a health worker take the temperature.
“This is another step to protect Americans from Ebola,” Frieden said. “We are tightening the process.”
The six states include Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey. These states receive 70 percent of the travelers coming in from the affected countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
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