US Starts Ebola Screenings at JFK Airport Today
John F. Kennedy Airport in New York has become the first in the United States to begin a stepped-up screening program for possible Ebola infection.
According to Reuters, medical teams at the airport, armed with Ebola questionnaires and temperature guns, began screening travelers from three West African countries - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone as U.S. health authorities stepped up efforts to stop the spread of the virus. Those countries have seen most of the deaths from the outbreak, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives.
Nearly all passengers traveling to the United States from those countries arrive at JFK, Newark Liberty, Washington Dulles, Chicago O'Hare and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta. The new procedures will begin at the other four airports on Thursday. Agents are screening incoming travelers for fever and other symptoms using questionnaires and infrared, non-contact thermometers. Coast Guard medical personnel initially are handling
the screening.
