World Bulletin / News Desk
U.S. airlines have said little publicly about political pressure to close the country's borders to travelers from Ebola-ravaged countries in West Africa, but in private they have briefed government officials about the challenges to implementing a ban.
Several dozen U.S. lawmakers have called for a ban on visitors from Sierra Leone,Guinea and Liberia, where the world's worst Ebola outbreak on record has killed almost 5,000 people. Since late September, a Liberian man who traveled by airline to Texasand an American doctor who lives in New York and flew home after treating Ebola patients in Guinea, have been diagnosed with the virus after their arrival. The Liberian died on Oct. 8 and the doctor is hospitalized in a specialized ward.
The Airlines for America trade group has said publicly that it supports the White House's view that a ban would make it more difficult to curb the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.
Yet individual airlines have raised additional concerns that their booking agents and software are not equipped to flag travelers under a ban. They also worry that a blanket restriction for West African countries might alarm the public and curtail travel on a wider scale.
Last Mod: 29 Ekim 2014, 14:26
