US to track everyone coming from Ebola nations

US President Barack Obama holds a meeting with Ebola Response Coordinator Ron Klain (R) and members of his team coordinating the government's Ebola response in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington October 22, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

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ATLANTA - All travelers who come into the US from three Ebola-stricken West African nations will now be monitored for three weeks, the latest step by federal officials to keep the disease from spreading into the country.

Starting on Monday, anyone traveling from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will have to report in with health officials daily and take their temperature twice a day.

The measure applies not only to visitors from those countries but also returning American aid workers, federal health employees and journalists. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the new step Wednesday.

The virus has killed more than 4,800 people in West Africa, nearly all in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

CDC Director Tom Frieden said monitoring will provide an extra level of safety. Passengers already get screened and temperature checks before they leave West Africa and again when they arrive in the United States.

"We have to keep our guard up," Frieden told reporters on a conference call.

The Obama administration has resisted increasing pressure to turn away any visitors from the three countries at the center of the Ebola outbreak, especially after a Liberian visitor to Dallas came down with the infectious disease days after he arrived and later died. Instead, passenger screening was put in place at 5 key US airports. That was tightened Tuesday to funnel everyone coming from those countries through those airports so all are checked.

The monitoring program will start in six states _ New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey and Georgia _ the destination for the bulk of the travelers from the outbreak region. It will later extend to other states.

Each passenger will be required to provide contact information for themselves as well as a friend or relative. They will be instructed to check for a fever twice a day and report their temperature and any symptoms to health officials daily for 21 days.

How the checks are done _ in person, by phone or Skype _ will be decided by the states, Frieden said. If a traveler does not report in, public health officials can track them down. How far they can go to get them to cooperate is up to those officials, CDC officials said.

They will also receive "CARE" kits _ the name stands for Check and Report Ebola. The kits include a thermometer and instructions on what to do if symptoms occur. Also included is a card to present to health care providers if they seek care.

CDC already was telling its own employees and other health professionals returning from the outbreak zone to monitor their temperature. It can take up to 21 days to develop symptoms, which include fever, headache, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea.

Earlier this year, roughly 150 travelers to the US each day were from the three countries. But it appears there are far fewer now _ there are no direct flights and flights to the area have been curtailed. New York's Kennedy airport _ which handles the most traffic _ has averaged 34 a day since screening began Oct. 11.

The other airports are Washington's Dulles, Newark's Liberty, Chicago's O'Hare and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson. While a few of the people screened thus far have been taken to the hospital, none had the infectious disease.

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