The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expanded its powers to restrict the entry into the United States of people considered a health risk, now including legal permanent residents or Green Card holders who have recently been in countries affected by the current Ebola outbreak in Africa.

The new provision, published as an emergency interim rule, states that those who have traveled in the last 21 days to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan could be temporarily prevented from entering the United States until mid-June.

Politico reported that the decision is part of an expansion of health restrictions already applied to foreign travelers due to the outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, considered one of the most complex variants because there is no vaccine or treatment approved specifically to combat it.

CDC expands “public health” restrictions

Although the measure does not imply a permanent ban, it does give the CDC greater discretion to deny entry even to legal residents of the United States under public health grounds.

“The rule does not permanently prohibit legal permanent residents from returning to the United States,” the agency explained in an official statement. “Gives CDC discretion to restrict entry when necessary and permitted by law.”

A US administration official, cited anonymously by Politico, acknowledged that the implementation of the rule could generate “chaos and confusion” at airports and immigration points.

Currently, US citizens returning from affected areas must enter through Washington Dulles International Airport, where reinforced medical screening and epidemiological control protocols are maintained.

Expansion of the Ebola outbreak is worrying

According to the CDC, the active outbreak already has more than 700 suspected cases and at least 150 probable deaths, mainly in Congolese territory.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also warned that the virus could have spread for months before being officially detected, because specific tests were not initially carried out to identify the Bundibugyo strain.

The new restrictions represent one of the most severe responses adopted by the United States to an Ebola outbreak since the health crisis recorded between 2014 and 2016 in West Africa, an emergency that left more than 11,000 dead and that directly affects those with Green Cards who wish to return home.