--- title: Ebola Outbreak: U.S. to Screen Passengers from West Africa at Airports description: After death of first patient diagnosed in U.S. canonical: https://time.com/3482094/ebola-us-west-africa-airports/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-08T17:20:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:49:53.048Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Outbreak: U.S. to Screen Passengers from West Africa at Airports og:description: After death of first patient diagnosed in U.S. og:url: https://time.com/3482094/ebola-us-west-africa-airports/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5b16e8f6a75302/69875f3bcd68483987096eb3/ebola-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Ebola immigrants og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Outbreak: U.S. to Screen Passengers from West Africa at Airports twitter:description: After death of first patient diagnosed in U.S. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdc5b16e8f6a75302/69875f3bcd68483987096eb3/ebola-airport.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. to Screen Passengers From West Africa for Ebola at 5 Airports > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola [Watch (HLS stream): Contact Tracing: How To Trace The Spread of Ebola](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EJ3m56cA.m3u8) (1:49)  _Published 2014-10-02. Health officials in the US are using a method known as contact tracing, to see who is at risk from Ebola._ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) Oct 8, 2014 5:20 PM UTC  People gather in the terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., on Oct. 2, 2014 People gather in the terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Va., on Oct. 2, 2014 Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) and [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) Oct 8, 2014 5:20 PM UTC Border-control agents at five airports will screen the temperatures of airline passengers trying to enter the U.S. from three West African countries heavily hit by the Ebola epidemic, the White House confirmed Wednesday. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the extra layer of screening will apply to travelers at John F Kennedy Airport in New York, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Tests would be conducted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Coast Guard, Earnest said, while “\[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)\] officials will also be on hand if a response is necessary.” “We think that the risk of an outbreak here in the United States is incredibly low,” Earnest said, just hours after [the first patient to be diagnosed with the deadly disease in the U.S. died](http://time.com/3481824/ebola-patient-thomas-eric-duncan-dies/). Health officials continued to urge calm on Wednesday following the death of that patient, Thomas Eric Duncan. CDC head Dr. Tom Frieden said the agency doesn’t support bans on travel from the affected countries because they prevent health workers from coming to contain the disease and have economic impacts. “There are so many misconceptions that \[countries\] are seeing a reduction in investment that are not in any way, shape or form involved in Ebola,” Frieden told reporters. And he said travelers returning from the region with fever-like symptoms shouldn’t panic and assume it’s Ebola. “It would not be surprising if we see travelers with a fever,” he said. “Malaria is extremely common in West Africa.” Earnest said about 150 people fly through the five airports from affected West African countries every day, accounting for “94% of individuals who travel to the U.S. from the three countries currently affected by Ebola right now.” Earnest said existing screening procedures on the ground in West Africa had prevented “dozens” of would-be travelers who displayed Ebola-like symptoms. ## Transcript Now that the first case of Ebola has been diagnosed on American soil, what's next? How can we keep the virus from spreading? Health officials are now turning to a process known as contact tracing to figure out who else might have been exposed to the virus. The likeliest candidates are the medical technicians who treated him. That's because Ebola is spread by direct contact with bodily fluids, which health workers could have come in contact with while treating the patient. Beyond that are the patient's family members or people who have been living in close quarters with him since he developed the symptoms, including fever. Vomiting or diarrhea. These people will be monitored for 21 days, which is the incubation period of Ebola, to see if they develop similar symptoms. They won't be quarantined, but they might be asked to avoid traveling out of the country and spending time in crowded public areas. If anyone in either of these rings appears infected. Health officials will extend their monitoring to include anyone those people have been in contact with. Including their family members, school classmates, or work colleagues, until no more Ebola symptoms are discovered. Beyond that, if people in this ring appear infected, they too would be monitored for symptoms for 21 days, and the analysis would spread to their contacts. The passengers on the patient's flights from Liberia to the US aren't considered at high risk of exposure, since he was not experiencing symptoms then. Of course, all of this depends on honest and accurate information from the patient and his contacts about where they have been and with whom. Something that has been an issue in West Africa. There the stigma against Ebola has led patients to flee health volunteers who are attempting to trace contacts or fail to report people they have interacted with. 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