The WHO does not recommend travel restrictions or bans, measures which they say are “usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science.”
Kluge urged countries today to “challenge stigma.”
“People from affected regions and African communities have faced unfair suspicion,” he said. “The spread of Ebola is not determined by nationality or ethnicity. Stigma discourages people from seeking care and can make outbreaks harder to control.”
Kluge reassured that “the overall risk remains low” in Europe, as there are no cases of Ebola or local transmission in the region, travelers are screened and infection requires direct contact with the bodily fluids of a sick person.
The U.S. imposed entry bans on non-U.S. citizens who had recently been in the Central African countries affected by the Ebola outbreak shortly after the it began, going against World Health Organization guidelines.
