Study: Without Exit Screening, About Three Ebola-Infected Individuals Could Fly Out of West Africa Monthly
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Purestock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — A study released on Tuesday by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research found that without exit screening, about three people infected with Ebola could fly out of West African nations impacted by the disease’s outbreak each month.
The study, published in The Lancet, analyzed historical flight itineraries and concluded that 2.8 travellers infected with Ebola leave impacted countries on commercial flights every month. Notably, 64 percent of travellers leaving Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone were traveling to low-income and lower-middle-income countries.
While researchers continue to note the importance of balancing the potential harms caused by travel restrictions, exit screening in West Africa “would be the most efficient frontier at which to assess the health status of travellers at risk of Ebola virus exposure.”
Such action, however, would require international support to properly implement.
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