Ebola: US ban on travellers from DRC, Uganda or South Sudan 'not the solution'
Source: The Guardian
Ebola: US ban on travellers from DRC, Uganda or South Sudan ‘not the solution’
Africa CDC says restrictions could increase public health risks and highlight ‘deeper structural injustice’ in global health
Kat Lay Global health correspondent
Thu 21 May 2026 18.41 BST
Last modified on Thu 21 May 2026 18.56 BST
A US travel ban for people coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in response to the Ebola outbreak could make the situation worse, critics have said.
The outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday and continues to spread, with a new case reported in the DRC’s South Kivu province, an area under the control of armed rebel groups.
The American travel ban, which applies to non-US passport holders who have been in any of the three countries in the past 21 days, has caused disruption to the DRC men’s football team’s World Cup preparations. It also caused a flight to Detroit to be diverted to Canada on Wednesday because a traveller from the DRC was onboard.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said that while it “fully recognises the sovereign responsibility of every government to protect the health and security of its people … generalised travel restrictions and border closures are not the solution to outbreaks”.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/may/21/ebola-us-ban-travellers-drc-uganda-south-sudan