US Lawmaker: Ban Travel To US From Ebola-Stricken Countries

A U.S. congressman has asked the Obama administration to impose an immediate travel ban on the citizens of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as on foreigners who have visited those countries, to contain the spread of Ebola to the United States.  Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida, a member of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the restriction should be lifted only when 90 days have passed without a newly reported case.  He said the ban should be expanded to any other country that reports a case of Ebola.

Grayson said the Ebola virus presents an enhanced danger to the American public.  “The countries represent a danger to the rest of the world and because the best way to deal with the situation is to isolate the areas that are affected until hopefully the infection burns itself out, as it has in the past," Grayson said. "We are talking about this time a fundamentally different circumstance, however.

"This is the largest outbreak in history; it’s the deadliest outbreak in history,” he added.  Grayson said, with Liberia already taking steps to close its borders, his travel ban request will only be assisting in that effort by saying that the Ebola-affected countries remain isolated until the infection disappears.  He said his travel ban, if granted by the Obama administration, would not include Nigeria, at least for now...