<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2:01<\/time>Canada implements Ebola travel restrictions<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
Canadian officials said that starting Wednesday, final decisions on immigration and travel applications for people from Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan could be paused for 90 days, though that may very well be prolonged or lifted based on how the outbreak evolves.<\/p>\n
Residents from all three countries need a visa to enter Canada.<\/p>\n
Officials also announced a compulsory self-isolation period of 21 days for anyone who has travelled to those countries. That measure will take effect on Saturday under the Quarantine Act and last until Aug. 29.<\/p>\n
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The federal government said it’s taking these actions \u201cout of an abundance of caution\u201d as health-care staff struggle to contain an outbreak of Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola, within the DRC. There are a handful of cases in neighbouring Uganda, which responded by closing its border on Wednesday. There have been no reported cases in South Sudan, nevertheless it shares a border with each countries.<\/p>\n
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Unlike one other more common strain of Ebola virus, there is no such thing as a licensed vaccine or treatment for Bundibugyo virus.<\/p>\n
Members of the family of a victim who died from the Ebola virus mourn through the funeral at Rwampara Cemetery, in Rwampara, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo\/Moses Sawasawa)<\/p>\n
In an email to The Canadian Press on Wednesday, the WHO said it \u201cadvises against any restrictions on travel and\/or trade to DRC or Uganda based on available information for the present outbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo country should close its borders or place any restrictions on travel and trade. Such measures are frequently implemented out of fear and haven’t any basis in science,\u201d said spokesperson Tarik Ja\u0161arevi\u0107.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost critically, these restrictions may also compromise local economies and negatively affect response operations from a security and logistics perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
In response, the Public Health Agency of Canada said, \u201cthe WHO has noted that there are significant uncertainties regarding the true variety of infected individuals, geographic spread, and epidemiological links amongst cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said she\u2019s already seeing how the measures could interfere with Canada helping combat the Ebola outbreak on the bottom in DRC.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve already (received) emails from people who find themselves interested by going to assist with outbreak management. And a few of them must think concerning the indisputable fact that in the event that they come back they\u2019ll be quarantined for 3 weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:34<\/time>Canada implements immigration measures for Ebola-hit countries<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\tMore on Health<\/button>More videos<\/button>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nMcGeer said the science doesn\u2019t support the broad travel restrictions as ways to significantly reduce risk in Canada.<\/p>\n
The Democratic Republic of Congo is a big country and the outbreak is in Ituri province, removed from the capital, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis could be something that may have some scientific justification if we may very well be specific about where people were travelling from,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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As well as, Ebola is far less contagious than COVID-19, influenza or measles and is spread through contact with bodily fluids. Persons are also not contagious until they’re showing symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cI get the indisputable fact that Ebola could be very scary. And I understand, , the response and the sense that closing our borders will protect us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
But \u201cstatistically, there may be a vanishingly small probability that anybody (with Ebola) will come. And in the event that they do come, we’re completely able to managing the illness, an illness which just isn’t transmissible until you get sick,\u201d McGeer said.<\/p>\n
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist with the University of Saskatchewan who has studied Ebola, also said the travel restrictions aren\u2019t based in science.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that screening travellers, actually, from places which were affected is a great idea \u2014 , screening them for symptoms and offering testing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t think that revoking immigration documents or immigration paperwork or the flexibility to immigrate to Canada or to travel to Canada based on national origin alone is supported.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rasmussen said Ebola most frequently spreads to the people caring for patients with Ebola, including health-care staff or relations, or through contact with the bodies of people that have died.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t6:08<\/time>Travellers from Ebola-hit regions must self-isolate for 21 days, Canada\u2019s health minister says<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
Although she thinks having all people arriving from DRC, Uganda and South Sudan quarantine is \u201coverkill\u201d and that the restrictions must be more geographically specific, Rasmussen said that having people isolate and monitor for symptoms is sufficient to stop Ebola spread in Canada.<\/p>\n
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But Dr. Matthew Runnalls, medical director of Toronto\u2019s World Cup medical planning team, said regardless that Ebola just isn’t as contagious as other viruses, the travel restrictions are \u201centirely reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe fundamentally, this can be a very low-risk scenario, especially for North America, nevertheless it\u2019s such a high-risk pathogen,\u201d said Runnalls, who can also be an emergency physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile you\u2019re talking a few tournament of this scale and the dimensions and the variety of people who find themselves coming and attending, we also need to \u2026 be sure that the event itself doesn\u2019t turn out to be a spreading opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 With files from Hannah Alberga<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Public Health Agency of Canada says temporarily blocking entry for people coming from Ebola-affected countries is needed to scale back the chance of importing the disease, despite the World Health Organization\u2019s suggestion against travel restrictions. \u201cThe health and safety of Canadians will all the time be the Government of Canada\u2019s top priority,\u201d a spokesperson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":342219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20691],"tags":[15236,23433,1675,1035,1903,52232,30440,4631],"class_list":["post-342218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-disagree","tag-ebola","tag-experts","tag-health","tag-national","tag-phac","tag-restrictions","tag-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342218"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342221,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342218\/revisions\/342221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/342219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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