Congressman Luke Messer calls on the Administration to show decisive leadership to combat Ebola

WASHINGTON — Today, Congressman Luke Messer welcomed the President’s appointment of Ebola Czar, Ron Klain, to help lead the effort to combat Ebola.  He also called on Klain to show decisive leadership and act quickly to combat the spread of this deadly virus.

“We all know the old saying ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’” said Congressman Luke Messer. “There are steps we could be taking right now to prevent the spread of Ebola before it becomes a widespread health care crisis in the U.S.”   

Congressman Messer called on the Administration to implement the following protocols:

• Issue a temporary travel ban into the United States from countries where the Ebola virus is widespread.
• Temporarily stop issuing visas to travelers from West African nations.

“I’m mindful of the concerns about banning travel from West African nations,” said Congressman Messer. “But, until we have demonstrated the capacity to contain Ebola in this country, we shouldn’t continue to allow unfettered travel between West Africa and the United States.”

Congressman Messer believes taking the following steps will better prepare the nation to contain the Ebola virus.  Once these protocols are in place, any travel or visa bans could be lifted:

• Require American Ebola patients to be treated at designated high-risk facilities and require the CDC to develop a contingency plan in the event of a widespread Ebola outbreak in the U.S. Currently, there are four facilities in the U.S. properly equipped to handle Ebola patients.  Anyone infected with Ebola should be transferred to one of these facilities.  If these facilities reach capacity, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) should have a contingency plan in place to determine where additional patients should be treated.   The health care workers at these designated hospitals should be trained and properly equipped to protect themselves from infection and prevent transmission to the general population.
• Require mandatory monitoring of all individuals traveling from West Africa to the U.S.  Anyone who has traveled between West Africa and the U.S. should be required to check-in at the closest health care facility on a regular basis to be physically examined until the 21-day incubation period has passed and it is determined they have not been infected with the Ebola virus. 
• Expand airport screenings of international flights at additional U.S. airports.  Currently, Ebola screenings are being conducted at five international airports—JFK (New York), Dulles (Washington, D.C), O’Hare (Chicago), Liberty International (Newark), and Hartsfield-Jackson (Atlanta). Additional screening should be conducted at the next tier of international airports that have a high number of inbound international flights on which individuals potentially infected with Ebola could be onboard.

“These protocols won’t be cheap, but America must provide whatever resources and funding is necessary to ensure we stop this deadly virus,” said Congressman Messer.  “Ebola is not only a national security threat; it is a threat to the world community that has to be stopped at its source.”