Trump Administration Bars Americans in Congo from Returning Home Amid Ebola Outbreak
The Trump administration has placed U.S. citizens in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a do-not-board list, preventing them from returning home unless they spend 21 days in a third country.
On Monday, the Trump administration barred U.S. citizens currently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from returning home, citing the ongoing Ebola outbreak that continues to outpace response efforts. According to reports from Reuters and Politico, Americans in the DRC or those who have recently traveled there have been placed on a do-not-board list under a transportation authority known as Title 49. They cannot travel back to the U.S. until they have spent 21 days in a third country.
Both outlets reported that roughly two dozen Americans who were scheduled to board flights home on Tuesday have already been blocked by the new rule. It remains unclear whether the bar also applies to government workers, including employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has at least two dozen staff members working in the DRC.
Health experts have been critical of such restrictions, pointing out that they have historically been unsuccessful and harmful. They argue that travel bans discourage transparency about outbreaks and disease risks, hurt economies, create stigma, and may limit humanitarian aid workers. Ebola is not highly transmissible like respiratory viruses; it spreads through contact with bodily fluids of people who are actively sick or recently deceased. The disease primarily affects family members, caregivers, and medical personnel who have close contact with patients.
