AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.The U.S. has begun rerouting travelers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda to select airports for enhanced health screenings, to identify those who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus.Listen · 3:44 min Travelers pass through John F. Kennedy International Airport, which will begin screening passengers from Ebola-stricken areas.Credit...Graham Dickie/The New York TimesMay 28, 2026John F. Kennedy International Airport will begin screening passengers from Ebola-stricken areas for the virus after 11:59 p.m. Thursday, making it the fourth U.S. airport to conduct enhanced public health checks since the outbreak began.For the past week, the United States has been rerouting travelers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Uganda to select airports to receive enhanced public health screenings, an effort to identify people who may have been exposed to the Ebola virus. Such screenings are already being conducted at Washington Dulles International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.In a news release Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that Kennedy Airport had previously conducted such checks during other public health crises “and has established operational procedures in place.” All travelers coming to the United States from affected areas could be subject to screenings, regardless of immigration or citizenship status. U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the screenings would be coming to J.F.K. Airport earlier this week.The Ebola outbreak is estimated to have led to more than 1,000 cases already, as well as more than 200 deaths. Public health experts have said that the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development last year left detection and response efforts flat-footed and underfunded, allowing the latest outbreak to spread rapidly.The Trump administration has pledged to keep Ebola out of the United States at all costs, even denying entry to American citizens affected by it. Earlier on Thursday, senior administration officials unveiled plans for a 50-bed quarantine center in Kenya to house Americans who had been exposed to the Ebola virus, with adjacent isolation and biocontainment facilities to hold those who test positive or showed signs of illness while in quarantine. The quarantine facility is expected to launch on Friday; it was not clear when the isolation and biocontainment facilities would be operational.The C.D.C. and State Department are still trying to identify enhanced treatment facilities in Europe to accept Americans who need advanced treatment for Ebola, the officials said.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT