Statement on order blocking U.S. travelers’ return from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Trump Administration’s decision to further complicate U.S. travelers’ return from a country facing an Ebola outbreak blatantly ignores the world-class infectious diseases care available right here at home, by the United States’ National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center network and the U.S. Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers.

Delaying the return of U.S. citizens who deploy to support the response to the Ebola outbreak leaves them without the benefit of world-class specialized health care provided by NETEC and the RESPTCs — a system the U.S. has spent more than a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars to develop. 

This policy will likely deter Americans from traveling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help stop the largest outbreak of this deadly disease in history. 
 
Some may argue that because these health care professionals volunteer to go overseas, they do so entirely at their own risk. This is a dangerous misreading of global health security. Controlling an epidemic at its source is the single most effective way to protect the American homeland; these volunteers are quite literally our first line of defense.

In medicine, a physician’s duty of care obligation is absolute — once a relationship is established, you cannot walk away and claim the patient “assumed the risk” of their illness. By the same ethical standard, our government cannot accept the national security benefits of these heroes’ sacrifices while simultaneously pretending it has no duty of care to bring them safely home. To outsource their emergency medical care to foreign allies while our own specialized facilities sit idle is a profound breach of that covenant. 

The Title 49 order puts another nail in the coffin of the United States’ status as a world leader in humanitarian response.
 
— Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA – President, IDSA

About IDSA
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a global community of 13,000-plus clinicians, scientists and public health experts working together to solve humanity’s smallest and greatest challenges, from tiny microbes to global outbreaks. Rooted in science, committed to health equity and driven by curiosity, our compassionate and knowledgeable members safeguard the health of individuals, our communities and the world by advancing the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Visit idsociety.org to learn more.