JFK Airport to serve as hub for arrivals from Ebola-affected African countries

Kennedy Airport has been designated one of four airports nationwide that will receive passengers who spent time in Ebola-affected African nations, in an effort to combat an ongoing outbreak, federal officials announced.

On Friday, Kennedy, which handles the most international passenger traffic in North America, will begin evaluating passengers who departed from or visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan or Uganda within 21 days of their arrival in the United States, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection news release. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will deploy "public health resources" to the airport "to implement enhanced public safety measures," the release said.

Restricting the points of entry for those who visited these nations is a "proactive measure to protect the safety of the American public in response to the ongoing Ebola disease outbreak," the CBP release said.

To prevent Ebola from entering the United States, the CDC "is taking proactive public health measures" such as bolstering "public health screening and traveler monitoring for individuals arriving from the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan" and enhancing "port health protection response activities, contact tracing, laboratory testing capacity, and hospital readiness nationwide," according to the agency's website.

Screening measures include a "brief questionnaire" covering travel history and symptoms, observation for signs of illness and the taking of temperature using "non-contact thermometers," the website says. 

"If a traveler has a fever or other symptoms, the traveler will be evaluated by a CDC public health officer," the website says.

If the evaluation determines that a traveler may have contracted Ebola, that person will be brought to a hospital for continued evaluation and isolation, the CDC says. "If a suspect case is identified, CDC will work with state/local health departments to conduct routine contact investigations to notify passengers," the agency says.

Those without symptoms will be allowed to proceed onward, but their information will be given to state and local health departments "for additional follow-up and support." 

The screening measures apply to American citizens. Non-American citizens who have been in any of the three countries over the prior 21 days are barred from entering the United States.

Airlines are expected to contact passengers who have been in the three countries during the 21-day period to have them rebook to fly into an airport with a screening operation, according to the CDC's website.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security directed flights carrying passengers who visited the three nations to disembark at Washington-Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Texas were similarly designated soon after.

The department's directive to funnel the flights from affected countries came under the homeland security secretary's authority under federal law.

A memo from CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said not every flight from the three countries are covered: "Crew and flights carrying only cargo (i.e., no passengers or non-crew), are excluded."

The CDC has been grappling with an Ebola outbreak "in remote areas" of the DRC and Uganda, the agency said.

As of Tuesday, the agency confirmed 121 cases and 17 deaths in the DRC, where there were more than 1,000 suspected cases.

On Wednesday, Uganda closed its border with the DRC, The Associated Press reported. As of Tuesday, the CDC confirmed seven cases and one death due to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda.

South Sudan has had no Ebola-related deaths or cases, but is considered to be a high-risk area, according to the UC Berkeley Public Health school. 

No cases of the disease associated with the outbreak have been reported in the United States.