World Health Organization Activates Travel and Transport Task Force for Ebola Outbreak
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(GENEVA) — The World Health Organization (WHO) activated a Travel and Transport Task Force on Monday that will monitor the ongoing outbreak of Ebola and provide prompt information to the travel and tourism sector and to travellers.
The WHO maintains that airborne spread of the disease is extremely unlikely, and that travelling on an airplane and contracting Ebola is also small, as most people suffering from the disease do not feel well enough to travel, as well as the required direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected individual.
Still, the WHO is asked all affected countries to conduct exit screening of all individuals at international airports, seaports and major land crossings to prevent the international spread of the disease. The only way an infected individual is to be allowed to cross borders, the organization says, is if that travel is part of a medical evacuation.
The WHO did not, however, recommend a ban on international travel or trade, and that exit screenings or travel restrictions are not recommended for non-affected countries that do not share borders with the nations currently impacted by the Ebola outbreak.
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