FORT DRUM, NEW YORK — U.S. health officials quarantined 14 American citizens at a military installation for four days after they returned from the Democratic Republic of Congo during a major Ebola outbreak.
The travelers entered the United States by land after traveling through Canada and were stopped at border crossings in New York and Vermont. They were transported to Fort Drum, where CDC personnel monitored them before their release, according to Reuters.
Sources familiar with the incident said none displayed symptoms or had known exposure placing them at meaningful risk of transmitting Ebola. The group reportedly included recently naturalized Americans who had visited relatives in Congo.
The quarantine followed a Trump administration policy preventing people currently in Congo from boarding commercial flights to the United States until they have spent 21 days outside the country. American citizens retain the legal right to enter through land borders, creating a gap between airline restrictions and border-entry rules.
Public-health and legal experts have questioned whether broadly applied restrictions are justified for travelers without documented exposure. The CDC says travelers leaving outbreak-affected areas should monitor for symptoms for 21 days, the maximum recognized incubation period.
Officials released all 14 travelers after four days without symptoms. The government has not explained why that period was considered sufficient or disclosed the legal authority used to hold them at Fort Drum.
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