The UN aviation agency has urged airlines and border authorities to avoid blanket travel restrictions and instead deploy targeted screening at entry points linked to Ebola-affected areas, as concern rises over a rapidly escalating outbreak in central Africa that has already been declared a global public health emergency.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, known as ICAO, said screening should focus on travellers arriving from or leaving areas where infection may be present, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. It also said countries affected by the virus should install exit scanners to detect passengers with fever or other symptoms. The agency said it is monitoring the outbreak through CAPSCA, its public health events programme for civil aviation.
The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo virus, a rare strain of the Ebola family for which there are currently no licensed vaccines or specific therapeutics. Laboratory-confirmed cases of Bundibugyo virus disease have been reported in Ituri Province in eastern DRC. Uganda has also recorded a limited number of confirmed cases, considered to be linked to cross-border travel from DRC, including cases in the capital Kampala.
On 17 May 2026, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus determined that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, known as a PHEIC. The first meeting of the WHO Emergency Committee was held on 19 May 2026. The committee agreed on the declaration but said the outbreak does not currently meet the threshold to be classified as a pandemic.
ICAO said its priority is targeted screening rather than shutting borders, as the organisation seeks to limit disruption to air travel while reducing the risk of cross-border spread. The agency pointed to WHO guidance that countries should not close borders or impose broad travel and trade restrictions. ICAO also noted that digital innovations, including electronic health declarations and contactless border processes, have been integrated into its recommendations to help track and manage health risks.
The response from national aviation authorities has been swift. India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the DGCA, issued procedures requiring passengers travelling from or transiting through Uganda and DRC to fill out self-declaration forms before deplaning. Airlines flying those routes are also required to broadcast specific health announcements during flights and to designate a single cabin crew member to care for any symptomatic passenger. In the event of a suspected case on board, airlines must inform air traffic control and coordinate with airport health authorities after landing.
In the United States, the response has escalated significantly. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, introduced enhanced traveller monitoring and began concentrating screening operations at Washington Dulles International Airport from 20 May 2026. The US Department of Homeland Security directed flights from affected regions to arrive at Dulles to allow federal health resources to be concentrated in one location. The screening has since been extended to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport from 22 May and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston from 26 May. The CDC said that as of its most recent update, no suspected, probable or confirmed Ebola cases had been reported in the United States and that the domestic risk remained low.
The US government also invoked Title 42 to restrict entry for non-citizens who visited the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days, a measure later extended to green card holders. US citizens who have travelled to affected countries have been directed to return via the designated screening airports. An American doctor working in the DRC tested positive for Ebola and has been hospitalised in Germany, where his condition has been reported as improving with treatment.
At the airline level, Uganda Airlines has suspended its Kinshasa route as a precaution, while Ethiopian Airlines and other regional carriers have been adjusting schedules to accommodate enhanced health protocols. Several other countries, including Thailand and South Korea, have strengthened airport health screenings and introduced travel restrictions covering high-risk provinces such as Ituri and North Kivu.
Ebola does not spread through casual contact or through the air. Transmission occurs through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or with contaminated materials, a characteristic that makes the aviation risk different from airborne diseases such as Covid-19 but still operationally significant for airlines, airports and border agencies.
ICAO‘s intervention reflects a broader lesson from past outbreaks: that fragmented or disproportionate responses at airports can cause unnecessary economic damage and panic without improving public health outcomes. The agency’s guidance places responsibility on health officials in affected countries to isolate cases quickly, trace close contacts and prevent further movement until risks are assessed, while keeping air links open where possible.
National health authorities in DRC and Uganda, supported by WHO and international partners, have implemented a range of outbreak control measures including rapid case detection and isolation, surveillance strengthening, infection prevention and control, contact tracing, community engagement, and screening at points of entry including airports and border crossings.
