Trump admin to block Ebola-exposed Americans from US, move them to Kenya

特朗普政府将禁止接触过埃博拉病毒的美国人入境，并将其转移至肯尼亚

The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to spread wildly, outpacing the international response efforts sprinting to catch up to the deadly Bundibugyo virus strain. The outbreak was first announced May 15 and is already the third largest recorded. The World Health Organization’s latest numbers as of May 24 are 1,018 cases (906 suspected, 112 confirmed) with 234 deaths (223 suspected, 11 confirmed). But these are known to be a significant undercount of the true spread and are also likely out of date by now.

刚果民主共和国的埃博拉疫情持续疯狂蔓延，其传播速度超过了国际社会为应对致命的本迪布焦（Bundibugyo）病毒株所做的努力。此次疫情于5月15日首次宣布，目前已成为有记录以来第三大疫情。截至5月24日，世界卫生组织的最新数据显示，共有1018例病例（906例疑似，112例确诊），死亡人数为234人（223例疑似，11例确诊）。但众所周知，这些数字严重低估了疫情的真实传播情况，且很可能已经过时。

The WHO and other national health agencies are calling for international support and collaboration to bring the outbreak under control. But it appears that the US is instead choosing to try to wall itself off—even to its own citizens and lawful residents. On Friday, the Trump administration announced it was escalating its controversial travel ban, now barring even lawful permanent residents (green card holders) from entering the country if they have traveled to the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan in the 21 days prior. The move is in addition to already barring non-US passport holders with such a travel history. Notably, Uganda has only reported seven cases and one death in the outbreak; there have been no reported cases in South Sudan.

世卫组织和其他国家卫生机构呼吁国际社会提供支持与合作，以控制疫情。但美国似乎选择试图将自己“隔离”起来——甚至是对待本国公民和合法居民。周五，特朗普政府宣布升级其备受争议的旅行禁令，现在即使是合法永久居民（绿卡持有者），如果在过去21天内曾前往刚果民主共和国、乌干达或南苏丹，也将被禁止入境。此举是在此前已禁止持有此类旅行记录的非美国护照持有者入境基础上的进一步限制。值得注意的是，乌干达在此次疫情中仅报告了7例病例和1例死亡；而南苏丹尚未报告任何病例。

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to beef up airport screening for Ebola. But the agency, which lacks a director and other high-ranking leaders, has been ravaged by deep staffing and budget cuts, political interference, and organizational upheaval from the Trump administration. As such, it’s having trouble finding the personnel to carry out the airport screens. Jay Bhattacharya, the Trump official overseeing the agency for now, resorted to sending an email to CDC staff asking them to volunteer for the task, which involves taking travelers’ temperatures and asking them questions. Volunteers can be from any pay grade, Bhattacharya noted in his email.

周二，彭博社报道称，美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）正试图加强机场的埃博拉病毒筛查。但该机构目前缺乏局长及其他高层领导，且受到特朗普政府大幅削减人员和预算、政治干预以及组织动荡的严重打击。因此，该机构难以找到足够的人手来执行机场筛查任务。目前负责监管该机构的特朗普政府官员杰伊·巴塔查里亚（Jay Bhattacharya）不得不向疾控中心员工发送电子邮件，请求他们自愿承担这项任务，其中包括为旅客测量体温并进行问询。巴塔查里亚在邮件中指出，任何薪资等级的员工均可报名参加。

Also on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration is planning to continue blocking American citizens from being repatriated if they have been exposed to the virus or infected amid the outbreak. According to the report, the US is working to instead set up a quarantine and treatment facility in Kenya. In past Ebola outbreaks, citizens have been repatriated to the US, which Trump had criticized.

同样在周二，《华尔街日报》报道称，特朗普政府计划继续阻止在疫情期间接触过病毒或已感染的美国公民回国。据报道，美国正致力于在肯尼亚建立一个隔离和治疗设施。在过去的埃博拉疫情中，美国公民通常会被接回国内，而特朗普曾对此表示批评。

Citizens turned away: Already, two American doctors working as Christian missionaries in the DRC have been sent elsewhere for care. Dr. Peter Stafford, age 39, has fallen critically ill with Ebola. But instead of being repatriated to the US—which has several specially designed facilities to provide high-quality care for Ebola patients—Stafford is being cared for in Germany. His Ebola-exposed wife and four children are also being monitored in Germany. Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, who served with the same religious organization, was exposed to the virus but remains asymptomatic. He was sent to the Czech Republic, not the US, for monitoring.

被拒之门外的公民：目前，两名在刚果民主共和国担任基督教传教士的美国医生已被送往其他地方接受治疗。39岁的彼得·斯塔福德（Peter Stafford）医生已因感染埃博拉病毒而病危。但斯塔福德并没有被接回美国（美国拥有多家专门为埃博拉患者提供高质量护理的设施），而是在德国接受治疗。他那接触过埃博拉病毒的妻子和四个孩子也正在德国接受监测。同样在该宗教组织服务的帕特里克·拉罗谢尔（Patrick LaRochelle）医生虽然接触过病毒，但目前没有症状。他被送往捷克共和国而非美国进行监测。

The plans to send exposed Americans to Kenya are not yet finalized and require signoff from Kenyan officials, the Journal noted. But some members of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service branch under the Department of Health and Human Services, have gotten notices to deploy to Kenya.

《华尔街日报》指出，将接触过病毒的美国人送往肯尼亚的计划尚未最终确定，仍需肯尼亚官员的批准。但一些隶属于美国卫生与公众服务部下属制服服务部门——美国公共卫生服务军官团（US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps）的成员，已经收到了部署到肯尼亚的通知。

Public health experts have consistently criticized travel restrictions and border closures, noting that they are not helpful during outbreak responses and can be harmful. As Africa CDC said in response to the US policy: “Generalized travel restrictions and border closures are not the solution to outbreaks. Such measures can create fear, damage economies, discourage transparency, complicate humanitarian and health operations, and divert movement toward informal and unmonitored routes – potentially increasing public health risks rather than reducing them.”

公共卫生专家一直批评旅行限制和关闭边境的做法，指出这些措施在应对疫情期间不仅无益，反而可能有害。非洲疾控中心在回应美国政策时表示：“普遍的旅行限制和关闭边境并非解决疫情的方案。此类措施会引发恐惧、破坏经济、阻碍透明度、使人道主义和卫生行动复杂化，并将人员流动引向非正式和不受监控的路线——这可能会增加而非减少公共卫生风险。”

While the US seems focused on physically separating itself from the virus, it also appears to be distancing itself from the outbreak response. The Trump administration withdrew the US from WHO last year, severing the country from international public health data and collaboration while also ending its dues payments and other financial contributions to the United Nations health agency. The loss of funding has hobbled WHO, which was forced to reduce staff and programs. According to CNN on Tuesday, the Trump administration has also restricted US scientists from interacting with WHO counterparts, even amid two high-profile outbreaks requiring multinational coordination, the hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship and the Ebola outbreak.

虽然美国似乎专注于在物理上将自己与病毒隔离开来，但它同时也表现出与疫情应对工作的疏远。特朗普政府去年让美国退出了世卫组织，切断了该国与国际公共卫生数据和合作的联系，并停止了向该联合国卫生机构缴纳会费和其他财政捐款。资金的流失削弱了世卫组织，迫使其削减了人员和项目。据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）周二报道，特朗普政府还限制美国科学家与世卫组织同行进行交流，即便是在需要多国协调的两起备受关注的疫情（游轮上的汉坦病毒疫情和埃博拉疫情）期间也是如此。