Americans detained under Ebola border crackdown, report says
A new CDC and DHS directive put U.S. citizens returning from the DRC under a 21-day quarantine policy, with some held at Fort Drum.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
4 min read
Thirteen U.S. citizens returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo by way of Canada were taken to Fort Drum in northern New York after a late-night CDC decision tied to Ebola travel controls, according to meeting notes obtained by Rolling Stone.
The travelers, who had crossed the land border after being blocked from flying into the United States, were held over the weekend and released Monday morning, the report said. They came from several states, including Texas, New York, Colorado, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
The detentions followed a July 15 directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security that brought U.S. citizens under an Ebola travel restriction for people entering the country from the DRC. Under the policy, travelers must spend 21 days in quarantine in another country or could be placed under a Do Not Board order limiting their air travel into the U.S.
Rolling Stone reported that shortly after midnight on July 17, NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, who is overseeing the CDC in the absence of a Senate-confirmed director, authorized the apprehension and detention of the 13 citizens. The report cited notes from a CDC meeting later that day.
Families caught at the border
A Massachusetts family with small children called Vermont’s state epidemiologist on July 17 after roughly 30 hours at the U.S.-Canada border, according to Rolling Stone. The family had flown home from Kinshasa, the DRC capital, and had not been near the outbreak area in Ituri province, more than 1,000 miles away, the report said.
At the border, their passports were taken and they were given little information and limited food, according to Rolling Stone. A Vermont health department spokesperson confirmed to the magazine that a detained family contacted the department that Friday and that state officials alerted the CDC.
The Vermont spokesperson said the family was screened by the CDC and the Vermont Department of Health, found to be low risk and is now home while being monitored for the recommended 21-day period for returning travelers.
Rolling Stone also reported that more than a dozen U.S. citizens faced similar problems at border crossings in New York and Vermont. Internal CDC emails, notes and meeting recordings obtained by the magazine also described a U.S. traveler detained after arriving at Dulles airport near Washington, D.C., and another detained in Atlanta who was initially kept from going home.
CDC staff raised alarms
The Do Not Board list appeared to sweep in people who should not have been included, according to CDC task force notes cited by Rolling Stone. The notes described requests coming from around the world from people on the list by mistake.
Satish Pilai, the CDC incident manager for the Ebola response, told interagency colleagues in a July 19 email that he remained concerned about continued problems for affected travelers, including issues involving Customs and Border Protection, according to Rolling Stone. The email said CDC and Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response staff were being put in difficult positions as they tried to carry out the government’s policy decision.
A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told Rolling Stone the Do Not Board list is meant to reduce the risk of Ebola being brought into the United States and said Americans can return 21 days after leaving the DRC. The White House did not immediately respond to the magazine’s request for comment.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the administration’s Ebola strategy in a statement, citing a lack of transparency and calling for a clear chain of command, quarantine plan, treatment protocol and coordination with state and local health officials.
The Ebola outbreak was first detected in May in Ituri province in eastern DRC, according to Rolling Stone. The report said there are more than 2,300 confirmed cases and 930 deaths, figures believed to be an undercount, and no approved vaccines or treatments for the Bundibugyo strain involved in the outbreak.
A CDC employee familiar with the travel restriction process described the broad use of the Do Not Board designation and the detentions as a misuse of CDC authority, Rolling Stone reported. Meeting notes cited by the magazine said CDC clinicians had assessed the U.S. citizens and found they did not have high-risk exposures.
This story draws on original reporting from Rolling Stone.