After U.S. travel restrictions stemming from the Ebola outbreak forced a commercial flight to divert to Montreal while carrying a passenger from one of the countries facing those new rules, Canadians may be wondering whether Canada should impose its own travel restrictions.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola disease outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, with at least 139 suspected deaths and more than 600 suspected cases.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said on Wednesday that “we expect those numbers to keep increasing.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security imposed a U.S. entry ban on foreign travelers who have been in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days “effective immediately.”
“At this time, CDC assesses the immediate risk to the general U.S. public as low, but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available,” a statement from the CDC reads.
Currently, the Canadian government advises Canadians to avoid all travel to Ituri and North Kivu provinces, citing safety and security concerns.
However, the government has issued a level two travel notice for Congo, which is set to indicate “an increased risk to travellers or certain groups of travellers (for example, pregnant women, campers, people visiting friends and relatives) and reminds them to practice enhanced health precautions.”
There is currently no travel notices surrounding South Sudan and Uganda in relation to Ebola outbreaks.
The notice advises Canadians to “practice enhanced health precautions” such as:
- The use of personal protective equipment
- Delaying travel until risk is lower
- Additional recommended vaccinations for some groups
- Avoiding higher-risk activities
Global News reached out to infectious disease experts to ask whether travel bans can be effective and whether Canada should follow suit.
Dr. Gerald Evans, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Queen’s University, believes that Canadian travel restrictions are not necessary.
“We know that travel restrictions don’t work when it comes to controlling the spread of something like a viral hemorrhagic fever virus like Ebola is,” he said.
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This is a sentiment that Dr. Isaac Bogoch, infectious disease specialist at the Toronto General Hospital also agrees with.
“Those aren’t very effective measures in keeping infectious diseases out,” he said.
In comparison to the travel restrictions that came from the COVID-19 pandemic, Bogoch said that the spread of the two illnesses is vastly different.
“With COVID, it has got a short incubation period and there’s transmission of the virus before people have overt symptoms, so it’s very transmissible, it’s hard to control,” he said.
Evans also stated that the recent hantavirus exposures have left people cautious that another potential pandemic could occur.
“The hantavirus issue that we’ve been facing recently with the cruise ship and now this Ebola outbreak in East Africa, with almost certainty, I can see these are not going to become a pandemic. They’re spread in a very different way,” he said.
In comparison to Ebola and hantavirus, Evans stated that the spread of the two illnesses stems “only when you get and the sicker you get that you actually get lots of transmission.”
“By that time, you’ve already identified somebody who’s unwell and maybe tested them and figured out what they had. COVID was trickier,” he said.
Bogoch also said that with people travelling at rates “never seen before,” it makes the containment of these illnesses much more difficult.
“The sad reality is that we’re in an era of unprecedented human mobility at a global level,” he said. “You can start in one corner of the world and be in just about any other part of the world in 24 hours through commercial means.“
There’s no approved treatment for Ebola disease in Canada. Patients can receive oxygen, intravenous fluids and other drugs in designated treatment sites to help with symptoms, according to the Canadian government.
While the WHO determined that the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, it does not meet the criteria of pandemic emergency.
The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a type of Ebola disease. There are no approved vaccines or specific treatments for BVD.
Most cases are reported in Ituri province, including the Mongwalu, Rwampara, and Bunia health zones. Ituri province borders Uganda, where imported cases linked to this outbreak have been reported.
Cases have also been reported in Goma, in North Kivu province. In response, border crossings between Goma and neighbouring Rwanda (Goma-Giseny) are closed until further notice due to the outbreak.
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