(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – In a letter to Department of State Secretary John Kerry and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-09) urged immediate action in response to the deadly Ebola epidemic currently spreading through West Africa.
Grayson, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is requesting an immediate, 90-day moratorium on travelers coming to the United States from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. He requested that such restrictions remain in place until 90 days have elapsed without a new reported Ebola case, and for the ban to be extended to “any other nation that reports originating a case of Ebola…”
The current Ebola epidemic is the worst in recorded history. Last week, the World Health Organization reported more than 1,200 suspected cases of Ebola, with 672 Ebola-linked deaths in West Africa.
Grayson also noted that an American citizen traveling to Lagos, Nigeria developed symptoms of Ebola while traveling to the country, and was admitted to a hospital in Nigeria where he passed away five days later. Grayson called this report “particularly troubling.” The Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos is the third busiest airport in Africa, and offers direct flights to the United States. “I urge you to consider the enhanced danger Ebola now presents to the American public,” Grayson wrote.
Congressman Alan Grayson represents Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk counties. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for Florida's 8th Congressional District in the 111th Congress.
