South Florida Airports Not Among Those Selected For Ebola Screening
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The nation steps up its efforts to stop Ebola from coming into the country on the same day as an infected man dies from the disease.
Five airports across the country will now screen passengers flying in from Africa for Ebola, but neither Miami International or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood will be a part of the Ebola airport screenings.
Airport officials say that's because there aren't any direct flights from the African nations affected by Ebola to South Florida, but closed door meetings are still taking place to prepare for the disease.
Ten days after he was admitted into the hospital, Thomas Eric Duncan died. He was the first person in America diagnosed with Ebola.
In the Dallas suburb of Frisco, a deputy who had contact with Duncan's family came down with what he believes to be Ebola-triggered symptoms.
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The White House announced five airports would start screening travelers coming from Liberia, Sierra Leon and New Guinea. None of those airports are in South Florida. That was disappointing for locals who believe Miami should be among the airports screening for the virus.
"Miami is an international destination (from) South America, Europe, etc," said Steve Evron.
The airports that will screen passengers include New York's JFK. It will start screenings on Saturday.
Newark in New Jersey, Dulles in Washington D.C., Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta, and Chicago's O'Hare will all start screenings next week.
Although neither of South Florida's airports will be part of the screening, they are preparing themselves for the possibility of Ebola.
At MIA, there was a closed door meeting between airport officials, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Center for Disease Control or CDC. They discussed different scenarios that could bring Ebola, and other diseases, to South Florida.
Florida's U.S. Senator Bill Nelson thinks more should be done. The Democrat wants the U.S. State Department to temporarily ban travel from West African nations.
His proposal wouldn't affect humanitarian or medical travel, and it would be up to the CDC to lift the ban once it felt the threat was over. Thursday, Sen. Nelson will be in Miami talking about his Ebola travel ban proposal.
Also on Thursday, a similar closed doors meeting to what happened at MIA will be happening at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International to discuss contingency plans for Ebola in South Florida.
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