Canada has introduced enhanced screening measures for Ebola at airports for returning travellers, Canada’s top doctor said Friday after confirming a person who was tested in Ontario is negative for the deadly virus.
Dr. Joss Reimer noted during a virtual press conference that the danger of the outbreak spreading in parts of Africa stays low for Canadians, and wouldn’t say if she would recommend a travel ban for those countries.
She said the proactive testing of the person in Ontario, who had reported symptoms “consistent with a variety of illnesses” after coming back from Ethiopia, was “a great example of how quickly measures are activated” when a possible case emerges.
“Each the initial testing that was conducted in Ontario in addition to confirmatory testing on the National Microbiology Laboratory were negative,” Reimer said.
She also confirmed the “passenger of concern” aboard a flight that was redirected to Montreal on Wednesday was assessed and declared asymptomatic for Ebola by Public Health Agency of Canada quarantine officers, and the person has since returned to their point of origin.
Enhanced screening for international travellers
Reimer said the improved “comprehensive” screening has been in place at Canadian airport inspection kiosks since Wednesday, asking additional questions including whether returning travellers have been to the Democratic Republic of Congo or neighbouring Uganda inside 21 days of arriving in Canada.
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Travellers are asked to self-identify in the event that they are experiencing symptoms or in the event that they have been in touch with someone who has tested positive for Ebola, she added.
“I just returned from Switzerland, and I can personally attest that I used to be asked additional questions regarding whether I had travelled to the world, whether I had any symptoms that could possibly be related to Ebola,” she said.
Additional quarantine and screening teams have been deployed at probably the most common ports of entry, Reimer said, and data signage has been posted.
Reimer said these measures were appropriate given the present state of the outbreak when asked if she would recommend travel restrictions or a ban, something she noted could be a call made by cabinet moderately than herself.
“It’s necessary that we have a look at how effective things like travel bans are,” she said. “We must be whether or not there may be any evidence that the outbreak is escaping the world (where) it’s currently concentrated. We also must be things like how the virus is spread.
“I would like to essentially highlight that Ebola could be very different than respiratory viruses like COVID. The way in which that (Ebola) spreads is from much closer and prolonged contact. And so we do need to administer this virus otherwise than how we did with things like COVID or influenza or measles.”
Reimer said she will probably be providing advice to cabinet on “this very fluid, rapidly evolving situation” with the most recent information from the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, in order that “decision-makers have all of the up-to-date-information as they make this difficult decision” on whether to institute travel measures.
The pinnacle of the World Health Organization said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in Congo is “spreading rapidly” and poses a “very high” risk on the national level.
The U.S. has imposed an entry ban on foreign travelers who’ve been in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan previously 21 days.
Reimer on Friday also gave an update on the spread of hantavirus, after multiple Canadians that were aboard a cruise ship where a deadly outbreak of the virus emerged returned to the country this month.
She said there have been no additional cases beyond the lone confirmed case in British Columbia who’s currently recovering in hospital. High-risk contacts who’re in that person’s family are continuing to be monitored by local health authorities, she added.
“The general risk to the overall population in Canada stays low right now,” Reimer said.
She noted that human-to-human transmission of hantavirus, like Ebola, is rare and requires close and prolonged contact with an individual exhibiting symptoms.
“We have now a sturdy system in place for detection, prevention and response,” she added.
—With files from Global’s Adriana Fallico and Katie Scott
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