Ebola Travel Ban Sought by Lawmakers Opposed by Companies
By Mark Drajem
Bloomberg News
Some of the biggest companies doing business in West Africa oppose a ban on travel to the U.S. from the countries hit hardest by Ebola, something a growing list of U.S. lawmakers are seeking.
"The restrictions are potentially damaging to the aid effort and destructive for the economies of these countries," said Ewa Gebala, a spokeswoman for ArcelorMittal. "We should be isolating Ebola, not these nations."
The Luxembourg-based company, which mines ore in Liberia and has had an expansion project there disrupted as contractors couldn't get personnel to the nation, met with other companies in the capital of Monrovia yesterday to discuss providing logistical help to fight the deadly virus.
"Without the support of the international community the situation for these economies, many of whom are only beginning to return to stability after decades of civil war, will be even more catastrophic," the chief executive officers of ArcelorMittal, Newmont Mining Corp., Aureus Mining Inc. and eight other companies said in a statement last month.
A ban on U.S. travel would undercut efforts to fight the disease and hurt any potential for economic recovery in those nations, the companies said.
Ebola has been devastating to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- three of the world's poorest nations -- where it has claimed more than 4,500 lives. Some U.S. lawmakers have been pressing for a ban on travelers from that region since a Liberian man with the disease arrived in the U.S. and two caregivers became infected.
Medical Supplies
"I haven't heard a reason why it's in the best interest of our country not to do it," Tom Ridge, who served as the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, said of a travel ban.
Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is dealing with the fallout from Ebola-infected nurse Amber Vinson flying to the state last week, said U.S. President Barack Obama needs to seriously consider a travel ban.
It's difficult enough controlling the movement within the U.S. of people who may have been exposed to the virus without the risk of others from infected areas flying into the country, he said.
"At the end of the day, it's a decision for the president," Kasich, a first-term Republican and former congressman, said at a news conference today in Akron, Ohio. "If he called me and asked me, I'd would say I think a ban at this point makes sense."
Three Nations
House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said the possibility of an outbreak in the U.S. means a temporary ban on passengers from those three nations is necessary. Others have said the U.S. should refuse visas to anyone from the three countries.
"A travel ban won't solve the Ebola crisis, but it should be part of a broader strategy," Representative David McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, said yesterday in a statement. "Stopping the outbreak in West Africa is the only way to contain the virus" but "there are several common-sense steps we need to take to protect the American people."
'Isolating Us'
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has pledged to U.S. lawmakers that airport officials are now ensuring that anyone who had contact with an Ebola patient can't get on a flight out of her country, as the passenger who made it to Dallas had done, according to Riva Levinson of KRL International. The Washington-based firm represents Liberia and companies working there.
"Isolating us will only contribute to the stigmatization of the country," said Abdulai Bayraytay, a spokesman for the Sierra Leone government. "Prohibiting passengers will not help the situation but rather would even make the supply of much needed medical supplies very very difficult as well."
Albert Damantang, a spokesman for Guinea president Alpha Conde, told reporters today at a press conference that they do not believe the idea of a ban is being seriously considered by the U.S.
"It is obvious that if ever it was set up the consequences would be enormous," Damantang said. "We do not wish that."
IMF Meeting
Isolating the disease and not the region was highlighted by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who wore a button with hat slogan at the IMF's annual meeting in Washington Oct. 11.
Obama again waived off calls for a ban in his weekly radio address today.
"We can't just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging," Obama said in his address. "Trying to seal off an entire region of the world -- if that were even possible -- could actually make the situation worse" by causing people to evade screening.
David Dausey, dean of the school of public health at Mercyhurst College, disagreed with that assessment.
"Every argument that you hear against it doesn't hold up," Dausey said. "We've got to do more now to contain this disease."
The current airport screening measures with non-touch thermometers and questionnaires are ineffective, at best, he said. A U.S. travel ban should be accompanied by a surge of U.S. military efforts, transporting health officials and foreign aid to the region.
"We are willing to use peacekeeping troops for war, but we aren't willing to do it for Ebola," he said. "If this were a war, we would be responding very differently."
Porous Borders
Given the porous nature of the borders in West Africa, determined travelers could slip into other nations and make their way to the U.S., according to Thomas Frieden, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If that happened, the passengers wouldn't have the exit screening nor the enhanced oversight when landing in the U.S., Frieden testified at a congressional hearing yesterday.
"We're able to screen on entry," Frieden said. "We're able to get detailed locating information. We're able to determine the risk level."
Aid Workers
The ban on travelers from those nations would restrict the ability to get aid workers into those nations. It would also undercut the economic and political stability of the nations, further spreading the disease there, opponents of the ban say.
"This holds the promise to turn this from a tragedy into a full-blown disaster," said David Evans, a World Bank economist who wrote a report on the economic impact of the outbreak. "It really could have destabilizing political effects."
Conde, the president of Guinea, made a similar argument in an Oct. 11 interview with Bloomberg Africa TV.
"We wish the panic would stop," Conde said. "In combating Ebola, we risk creating an even worse evil, namely breaking African economies."
The pressure to ban incoming passengers followed the revelation that two nurses who treated Thomas Eric Duncan in the U.S. contracted Ebola. Both have been transferred from Dallas to hospitals that specialize in the treatment of infectious diseases.
Of the 275,000 international passengers that arrive at U.S. airports every day, about 150 -- or less than 0.1 percent -- come from at-risk nations in Africa. The new U.S. airport checks started three days after Duncan's death from the disease.
21 Days
Even with a travel ban, it's not hard to come up with scenarios in which a person with a disease that can remain asymptomatic for up to 21 days can find their way to the U.S., said James Carafano, a national security fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"No matter what procedures are put in place" individual cases, such as Duncan, may still find their way to U.S. hospitals, Carafano said. "The No. 1 task of the federal government should be working with state and local governments" so they can handle those individual cases, he said.
Ahmed Gaba in Freetown, Sierra Leone, said he is worried that a U.S. travel ban could prevent him from seeing his mother and siblings in Philadelphia any time soon.
"My family in the U.S. are afraid of coming" to Sierra Leone, because of the outbreak, "and if the call for a ban is approved then it will be long before we get to see each other," Ahmed said. "I am confident that Ebola will soon end and our fears will be over."
--With assistance from Silas Gbandia in Sierra Leone, Ougna Camara in Conakry, Anna Edney in Washington and Mark Niquette in Columbus.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajembloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97bloomberg.net; Jodi Schneider at jschneider50bloomberg.net Stephen West, Maura Reynolds
 |
| Dallas hospital linked to all Ebola cases. |
Bloomberg News
Some of the biggest companies doing business in West Africa oppose a ban on travel to the U.S. from the countries hit hardest by Ebola, something a growing list of U.S. lawmakers are seeking.
"The restrictions are potentially damaging to the aid effort and destructive for the economies of these countries," said Ewa Gebala, a spokeswoman for ArcelorMittal. "We should be isolating Ebola, not these nations."
The Luxembourg-based company, which mines ore in Liberia and has had an expansion project there disrupted as contractors couldn't get personnel to the nation, met with other companies in the capital of Monrovia yesterday to discuss providing logistical help to fight the deadly virus.
"Without the support of the international community the situation for these economies, many of whom are only beginning to return to stability after decades of civil war, will be even more catastrophic," the chief executive officers of ArcelorMittal, Newmont Mining Corp., Aureus Mining Inc. and eight other companies said in a statement last month.
A ban on U.S. travel would undercut efforts to fight the disease and hurt any potential for economic recovery in those nations, the companies said.
Ebola has been devastating to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea -- three of the world's poorest nations -- where it has claimed more than 4,500 lives. Some U.S. lawmakers have been pressing for a ban on travelers from that region since a Liberian man with the disease arrived in the U.S. and two caregivers became infected.
Medical Supplies
"I haven't heard a reason why it's in the best interest of our country not to do it," Tom Ridge, who served as the first secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush, said of a travel ban.
Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is dealing with the fallout from Ebola-infected nurse Amber Vinson flying to the state last week, said U.S. President Barack Obama needs to seriously consider a travel ban.
It's difficult enough controlling the movement within the U.S. of people who may have been exposed to the virus without the risk of others from infected areas flying into the country, he said.
"At the end of the day, it's a decision for the president," Kasich, a first-term Republican and former congressman, said at a news conference today in Akron, Ohio. "If he called me and asked me, I'd would say I think a ban at this point makes sense."
Three Nations
House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, said the possibility of an outbreak in the U.S. means a temporary ban on passengers from those three nations is necessary. Others have said the U.S. should refuse visas to anyone from the three countries.
"A travel ban won't solve the Ebola crisis, but it should be part of a broader strategy," Representative David McKinley, a West Virginia Republican, said yesterday in a statement. "Stopping the outbreak in West Africa is the only way to contain the virus" but "there are several common-sense steps we need to take to protect the American people."
'Isolating Us'
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has pledged to U.S. lawmakers that airport officials are now ensuring that anyone who had contact with an Ebola patient can't get on a flight out of her country, as the passenger who made it to Dallas had done, according to Riva Levinson of KRL International. The Washington-based firm represents Liberia and companies working there.
"Isolating us will only contribute to the stigmatization of the country," said Abdulai Bayraytay, a spokesman for the Sierra Leone government. "Prohibiting passengers will not help the situation but rather would even make the supply of much needed medical supplies very very difficult as well."
Albert Damantang, a spokesman for Guinea president Alpha Conde, told reporters today at a press conference that they do not believe the idea of a ban is being seriously considered by the U.S.
"It is obvious that if ever it was set up the consequences would be enormous," Damantang said. "We do not wish that."
IMF Meeting
Isolating the disease and not the region was highlighted by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who wore a button with hat slogan at the IMF's annual meeting in Washington Oct. 11.
Obama again waived off calls for a ban in his weekly radio address today.
"We can't just cut ourselves off from West Africa, where this disease is raging," Obama said in his address. "Trying to seal off an entire region of the world -- if that were even possible -- could actually make the situation worse" by causing people to evade screening.
David Dausey, dean of the school of public health at Mercyhurst College, disagreed with that assessment.
"Every argument that you hear against it doesn't hold up," Dausey said. "We've got to do more now to contain this disease."
The current airport screening measures with non-touch thermometers and questionnaires are ineffective, at best, he said. A U.S. travel ban should be accompanied by a surge of U.S. military efforts, transporting health officials and foreign aid to the region.
"We are willing to use peacekeeping troops for war, but we aren't willing to do it for Ebola," he said. "If this were a war, we would be responding very differently."
Porous Borders
Given the porous nature of the borders in West Africa, determined travelers could slip into other nations and make their way to the U.S., according to Thomas Frieden, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If that happened, the passengers wouldn't have the exit screening nor the enhanced oversight when landing in the U.S., Frieden testified at a congressional hearing yesterday.
"We're able to screen on entry," Frieden said. "We're able to get detailed locating information. We're able to determine the risk level."
Aid Workers
The ban on travelers from those nations would restrict the ability to get aid workers into those nations. It would also undercut the economic and political stability of the nations, further spreading the disease there, opponents of the ban say.
"This holds the promise to turn this from a tragedy into a full-blown disaster," said David Evans, a World Bank economist who wrote a report on the economic impact of the outbreak. "It really could have destabilizing political effects."
Conde, the president of Guinea, made a similar argument in an Oct. 11 interview with Bloomberg Africa TV.
"We wish the panic would stop," Conde said. "In combating Ebola, we risk creating an even worse evil, namely breaking African economies."
The pressure to ban incoming passengers followed the revelation that two nurses who treated Thomas Eric Duncan in the U.S. contracted Ebola. Both have been transferred from Dallas to hospitals that specialize in the treatment of infectious diseases.
Of the 275,000 international passengers that arrive at U.S. airports every day, about 150 -- or less than 0.1 percent -- come from at-risk nations in Africa. The new U.S. airport checks started three days after Duncan's death from the disease.
21 Days
Even with a travel ban, it's not hard to come up with scenarios in which a person with a disease that can remain asymptomatic for up to 21 days can find their way to the U.S., said James Carafano, a national security fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.
"No matter what procedures are put in place" individual cases, such as Duncan, may still find their way to U.S. hospitals, Carafano said. "The No. 1 task of the federal government should be working with state and local governments" so they can handle those individual cases, he said.
Ahmed Gaba in Freetown, Sierra Leone, said he is worried that a U.S. travel ban could prevent him from seeing his mother and siblings in Philadelphia any time soon.
"My family in the U.S. are afraid of coming" to Sierra Leone, because of the outbreak, "and if the call for a ban is approved then it will be long before we get to see each other," Ahmed said. "I am confident that Ebola will soon end and our fears will be over."
--With assistance from Silas Gbandia in Sierra Leone, Ougna Camara in Conakry, Anna Edney in Washington and Mark Niquette in Columbus.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Drajem in Washington at mdrajembloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97bloomberg.net; Jodi Schneider at jschneider50bloomberg.net Stephen West, Maura Reynolds
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