Red Cross chief: Ebola travel bans ‘irrational’

Banning travel to West African countries that are battling Ebola is “irrational,” said the chief of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), according to Reuters report. 

Support has been building in Congress for some form of an Ebola travel ban following the first domestic diagnoses of the deadly virus this month. 

IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy said this week that canceling flights to African nations that are prone to Ebola would do little to prevent the disease from spreading further than it already has, according to the report

{mosads}“[Ebola] creates a lot of fear and extreme panic that sometimes lead to very irrational type of behaviors and measures, like closing borders, canceling flights, isolating countries etc.” Sy said. 

“Those are not solutions,” he continued. “The only solution is how can we join our efforts to contain those kinds of viruses and epidemics at their epicenter, right where they start.”

Despite the admonitions of health officials like Sy, approximately 90 lawmakers have said publicly that they support an Ebola travel ban, according to a tally that has been compiled by The Hill.

The White House has resisted such calls, arguing that it would complicate Ebola relief efforts in West Africa without boosting security in the U.S. Most travelers from West Africa, including the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S., Thomas Eric Duncan, have to pass through European airports to reach the U.S. 

Administration officials have also said an outright travel ban would make it more likely for passengers to lie. 

Obama administration officials have responded to the pressure by restricting travel from West Africa to airports in New York, New Jersey, Washington, Chicago and Atlanta that have been set up for enhanced Ebola screening.