MONROVIA, October 22 (LINA) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has identified five airports that will conduct Ebola checks on passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea to ensure that the Ebola virus does not enter the country.

According to a release, the DHS noted that the exercise is also part of its ongoing response to prevent the spread of Ebola to the United States.

It said the new measures will go into effect on Wednesday, October 22, and named the airports targeted as New York’s JFK, Newark, Dulles, Atlanta and Chicago.
The DHS describes the exercise as secondary screening and added protocols, including having the temperatures of all travelers taken before they can be admitted into the United States.

The release added that these airports account for about 94 percent of travelers flying to the United States from these countries.
At present there are no direct, non-stop commercial flights from Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea to any airport in the United States.

“We currently have in place measures to identify and screen anyone at all land, sea and air ports of entry into the United States and who we have reason to believe has been present in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea in the preceding 21 days,” the DHS noted.
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