Ebola: Washington requires all air passengers to certify no prior travel to DRC

Every passenger on an international flight bound for the United States must now sign a declaration certifying that they have not been in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the twenty-one days prior to their trip. The measure, which came into effect in early November 2026, stems from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US federal health agency, according to Africanews.

The CDC presents it as a public health measure intended to reduce the risk of introducing the Ebola virus into US territory by air. No official is named in the agency's text, and Africanews reports no verification mechanism in US airports, nor any reaction from Kinshasa, Africa CDC, or the World Health Organization to this specific decision.

A strain with no approved vaccine

The outbreak affecting the continent has claimed more than 5,300 lives, the vast majority in the DRC, according to the African health agency cited by Africanews. It is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is currently no approved vaccine or treatment. Clinical trials were launched in recent weeks using the Ervebo vaccine, whose efficacy is established against the more widespread Zaire strain.

"A partnership, not a punishment"

On November 3, 2026, speaking from Addis Ababa, Africa CDC spoke out against this type of measure, referring this time to Saudi Arabia, which imposed broad travel and visa restrictions on Kenya. "We must not punish transparency," declared its Director General, Dr. Jean Kaseya, adding that "Africa needs partnership, not punishment."

The continental agency recalled that health measures must be based on scientific evidence, proportionality, transparency, and the International Health Regulations, rather than on fear or the mere presence of imported cases. It considers that African countries should not suffer disproportionate restrictions simply because they are African, and that the same scientific criteria should apply whether an imported case is detected in Africa or in Europe. The detection of an imported case is not in itself proof of a national health failure, it stressed.

In Kenya, the toll remains limited: nine confirmed cases, including two deaths, all linked to a single imported case confirmed on October 6, 2026, and no new cases since October 19, according to Africa CDC. On November 3, 2026, five patients were beginning to be discharged from the hospital after five negative PCR tests.

The US declaration, for its part, targets only the DRC and relies on the traveler's word. It places Congolese nationals and anyone transiting through the country before a formality that the continent's health authorities, at this stage, do not consider justified.