Ebola patient in U.S. shows reliance on honour system for airline passengers
A Nigerian port health official uses a thermometer on a
worker at the arrivals hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos,
Nigeria. (Sunday Alamba/Associated Press)
The arrival in Dallas of Thomas Duncan, the first person to
be diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S., has raised concerns over air
travel's potential to spread a deadly disease across countries and
continents.
Duncan's case has prompted some U.S. lawmakers to demand
screening procedures at U.S. airports, while others, like Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal, have called on the government to impose a travel ban
from Ebola-stricken countries.
The case also illustrates the possible limitations of airport screening
along with its reliance on passengers to follow the honour system.
"We do rely on people to be honest,"
said Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease physician at the University
of Pittsburgh Medical Centre. "When someone isn't truthful about
their contact with Ebola patients, we are limited by that."
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