The new measure was announced on Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), marking a significant tightening of entry rules.
CDC Expands Ebola Restrictions
Under the updated order, lawful permanent residents, commonly known as green card holders, who have been in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan within the past 21 days will temporarily be barred from entering the US.
US citizens, nationals, and green card holders had been exempt from a broader 30-day Ebola-related entry restriction. But the CDC said the evolving outbreak situation required additional precautions to prevent the virus from entering the country.
“Applying this authority to lawful permanent residents for a limited period of time provides a balance between protecting public health and managing emergency response resources,” the agency said in a statement.
Historically, holders of green cards have been exempt from limitations on entering the United States. They were exempt from both President Donald Trump’s numerous travel restrictions and the CDC’s COVID-era order.
WHO raises global alarm
The move came shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the risk level of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola to ‘very high’ and declared the Ebola spread in the DRC and Uganda an emergency of international concern.
“We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at global level,” WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
According to Parthesarathy Rajendran, Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) South Asia, the current outbreak is ‘deeply concerning’ because it involves the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a rarer form of the virus for which there is currently no approved vaccine or targeted treatment.
Since the outbreak was officially declared on May 15, DRC have reported over 500 suspected cases and more than 130 deaths, with cases spreading across multiple provinces and crossing into Uganda.
MSF warns of growing crisis
Parthesarathy Rajendran warned that delayed detection and fragile healthcare systems are worsening the crisis. He added that the outbreak was detected late and is spreading in areas already struggling with conflict, displacement, and weak medical infrastructure, making this outbreak ‘especially dangerous’.
“For us at Doctors Without Borders, MSF, this is our 17th Ebola intervention. We are rapidly scaling emergency support alongside health authorities, deploying experienced Ebola specialists, medical teams, logisticians, and essential supplies into affected areas,” Rajendran added.
According to MSF, more than 50 people had already died since early April before the outbreak was officially declared in mid-May.
No approved vaccine or treatment
The Bundibugyo strain presents unique challenges compared to previous Ebola outbreaks. Existing Ebola vaccines are approved only against the more common Zaire strain of the virus and are not currently authorised for use in cases of infection with the Bundibugyo virus.
Similarly, existing monoclonal antibody treatments developed during earlier Ebola outbreaks have not been approved for use against this strain. Antiviral candidates and experimental monoclonal antibodies do exist, but their efficacy has yet to be determined, as per the MSF report.
In the absence of a targeted vaccine or treatment, healthcare workers are relying largely on supportive care, including fluid replacement, oxygen support, symptom management, and monitoring of blood and cardiac parameters.
In the previous Bundibugyo outbreaks, the fatality rate ranged between 25 and 40%.
Shortage of testing kits slows detection
As per the report, one of the biggest challenges in responding to the outbreak is the lack of rapid diagnostic capacity for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola. PCR tests used to confirm infections require virus-specific diagnostic kits, but supplies remain limited. The shortage has significantly slowed the confirmation of suspected cases, delaying critical response measures such as contact tracing and patient isolation.
Outbreak expands across DRC and Uganda
MSF said it first received alerts on May 9 and 10 regarding a rising number of deaths in the Mongwalu health zone in Ituri province, northwest of Bunia. Cases were later identified in Bunia and Rwampara health zones before spreading into the neighbouring province of North Kivu, including the regional capital Goma, indicating a wider territorial spread.
Ugandan health authorities, meanwhile, confirmed the country’s first Ebola-linked death on May 14. In response to the rapidly evolving situation, the World Health Organization activated its highest emergency alert level on May 17.
17th Ebola outbreak
This marks the 17th Ebola outbreak recorded in the DRC since the virus was first identified in 1976, and the third outbreak involving the Bundibugyo strain specifically.
