The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and South Sudan have been coping with an Ebola outbreak that originated in the DRC. This notification is to prepare all stakeholders who may need to organize medical transportation of the actual and expected affect on these activities.
Several countries have now placed strict travel restrictions on travelers returning from the affected countries. Some have indicated they will not accept medical evacuations of Ebola patients.
As of today, the U.S. and Canada will restrict and/or re-route returning flights from east Africa to specific airports.
Both countries have placed suspensions on non-citizen visa holders from the affected countries attempting to return to North America. They are imposing airport screening for any others arriving on flights from the region and are mandating a 21 day self- quarantine for passengers without symptoms. The U.S. will re-reroute all flights from the region to one of 4 airports: Washington Dulles, New York JFK, Atlanta or Dallas. Evacuations by air ambulance of any confirmed or suspected Ebola patients will be severely restricted and require the highest level isolation equipment available – either a specially equipped isolation unit of an aircraft or single place isolation pod. Maximal PPE will be required for crew. In all likelihood, such transports will involve multiple aviation and and governmental agencies and arrangements for admission at highly specialized infectious disease hospitals. Crew may be subject to 21 days of quarantine upon return. Other travelers to the affected countries will also be affected. There are already border closures between the affected countries and it is likely travelers whose itineraries include them will not be able to continue to other travel destinations within Africa. Those needing medical evacuation for any condition and who have any symptoms in common with Ebola (fever, malaise, diarrhea, rash, etc) may be delayed until Ebola testing is negative – this could include patients with malaria, sepsis or dengue. Based on past outbreaks, evacuation may be delayed regardless of severity of the patient and need for care in more advanced facilities. Please expect all evacuation and medical repatriation flights to be subject to increased scrutiny and delays.
Please also note that nations may impose restrictions on refueling stops, which will limit aircraft capacity for these flights to long-range planes. If so, there will be decreased availability of qualified aircraft overall and potentially at increased cost, even for non- Ebola flights. The above information is based on currently announced travel restrictions as well as established practices during previous highly infectious disease outbreaks. We will keep you updated as the situation changes.