Airline groups ask US CDC to reconsider Ebola travel declarations

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airlines for America have separately urged the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reconsider an Ebola declaration planned for all US-bound air travelers from November 3, Reuters reported from Washington on October 28. Passengers and crew would have to attest that they had not been in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during the previous 21 days, a requirement the groups say airlines have too little time to implement.

The planned measure would require a digital or paper declaration from each passenger and crew member, regardless of whether they had traveled to the DRC. Reuters reported that the CDC announced the plan the previous week to prevent entry by people exposed to Ebola.

Why airlines object to the November 3 deadline

Airlines for America asked the CDC to exempt crew members, US military personnel and jumpseat travelers. It called the plan costly and burdensome, and said US Customs and Border Protection screened about 130 million air passengers in 2025, fewer than 25,000 of whom had a connection to the DRC. Those figures are the airline group's account of the scale of affected travel.

IATA also questioned why the declaration would apply to air travel but not maritime or surface transport. The CDC did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment, and it was not immediately clear whether it would change the planned requirement.

The Ebola outbreak behind the travel measures

The proposed declaration follows earlier US restrictions. Reuters reported that the CDC barred foreign airline passengers who had been in the DRC during the previous three weeks under rules adopted in May, then extended those restrictions to US citizens in July. The new plan would add a declaration for all US-bound passengers and crew.

UN News reported that Congolese Ministry of Health data showed 10,141 Ebola cases and nearly 5,000 deaths as of October 26. The outbreak had spread to eight provinces, including areas difficult to reach amid conflict, hunger and displacement. The World Health Organization called for continued efforts to control transmission.

UN News said more than 2,600 people had recovered and testing and treatment capacity had expanded. Clinical trials of candidate vaccines for the Bundibugyo virus strain were underway, with an initial trial using ring vaccination among close contacts of confirmed patients.

Travel-related concern extends beyond the DRC. UN News reported nine Ebola cases in Kenya, including two deaths, linked to a man who flew from the DRC to Nairobi via Uganda on October 3. More than 130 contacts were identified, and 20 had been discharged from quarantine.