By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) – Canada said on Tuesday it will temporarily ban residents from three African countries amid an Ebola outbreak as a source told Reuters The Bahamas plans to make a similar move.
Residents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan will be banned from entering Canada for 90 days starting Wednesday, the Canadian government said. It said the temporary border measure aimed to reduce the risk of Ebola entering and spreading within Canada.
The World Health Organization on Friday raised to “very high” the risk of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola turning into a national outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has declared the outbreak there and in Uganda an emergency of international concern.
Last week, Washington banned non-citizens who had traveled to the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in recent weeks from entering the United States.
Canadian citizens, permanent residents and other foreign nationals who have been in affected areas in recent weeks and do not have symptoms will have to quarantine for 21 days from May 30, according to a statement from Canada’s public health agency.
The Bahamas is also expected to announce an entry ban on people who have traveled to the same three African countries in the past 21 days, a source familiar with discussions told Reuters.
The ban, which will be announced by the Caribbean country’s health ministry, is expected to remain in place for at least 30 days, the source said.
No cases of Ebola have been reported in the United States, Canada or The Bahamas.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington and Ismail Shakil in Ottowa; editing by Michelle Nichols )
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