US adds Atlanta airport for Ebola screening, Red Cross mourns death of volunteers

WASHINGTON:  Americans coming back from ​the Democratic Republic of the ‌Congo, ​Uganda or South Sudan now have a second entry point for returning to the United States, with the CDC on Saturday expanding its enhanced ⁠Ebola screening to include Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.Hartsfield-Jackson has previously been used to screen passengers and has ‌established operational procedures in place, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ‌said.Washington’s Dulles International Airport ‌was designated this week to screen ‌returning citizens for ‌the Ebola virus.Enhanced public health entry screening ​is one ‌component ​of CDC’s Ebola approach, which ⁠also includes overseas exit screening, airline illness reporting, and post-arrival public health monitoring.The ⁠World ⁠Health Organization says 82 cases have been confirmed so far in the DRC, ⁠with seven confirmed deaths, 177 suspected deaths and almost 750 suspected cases linked to the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.Earlier this week, the Trump ‌administration banned non-citizens who had traveled to the ​DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in recent weeks from entering the United States. Red Cross mourns death of three volunteers from Ebola in CongoGENEVA: The Red ​Cross on Saturday paid tribute to three volunteers ‌who ​are believed to have died after contracting Ebola while handling bodies and are among the first known victims of the latest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.The Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, ⁠for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on Sunday.The three ‌volunteers are thought to have contracted the virus during dead body management activities on 27 March ‌as part of a humanitarian mission unrelated to ‌Ebola, the International Federation of Red Cross and ‌Red Crescent Societies ‌said in a statement. At the time the latest outbreak had ​not yet been identified, ‌it added.Ajiko ​Chandiru Viviane, Sezabo Katanabo, ⁠and Alikana Udumusi Augustin, who volunteered in the Mongbwalu branch in Ituri province in the northeast of the ​country, ⁠the IFRC ⁠said. They died on May 5, 15 and 16 respectively.Bodies of Ebola victims are highly infectious ⁠after death, and unsafe burials – where family members handle the body without proper protective equipment – are a leading driver of transmission, which IFRC teams are working on the ground to avoid.”These volunteers lost ‌their lives while serving their communities with courage and humanity,” the ​IFRC said.IFRC volunteers are also going door-to-door to combat misinformation about Ebola in the area at the centre of the outbreak in the Congo.