Olumawu School Pupils Are Guided Through The Use Of Hand Sanitizers
Pupils of Olumawu School are guided through the use of hand sanitizers, as school resumes in Abuja September 22, 2014. Nigeria and Senegal, two of the five countries affected by the world's worst ever Ebola outbreak are managing to halt the spread of the disease, the World Health Organization said on Monday, although the overall death toll rose to 2,793 out of 5,762 cases. Reuters/Stringer

The U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new warning to all American airlines to treat all body fluids as infectious, as the Ebola outbreak rampaging the West African region is expected to reach half a million cases by end of Jan 2015. The new guidance released over the weekend was on top of routine infection control measures the agency had released earlier.

Barbara Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the agency, earlier told Bloomberg News that it is working on "a dynamic modeling tool" to help the agency come up with a certain projected number of Ebola cases over time. The report is set to be released this week.

The new guidance for the American airlines comes after U.S. epidemiologists warned the Ebola epidemic could last 12 to 18 months more, and as such, could yield off a much higher death toll than what the World Health Organisation, WHO, had earlier forecast. In August, WHO said it hoped to contain the outbreak within nine months with the total cases at only 20,000. However, on Wednesday, the global health body reported the Ebola death toll in West Africa has reached 2,461, while the United Nations said over US$1 billion is needed to eradicate and control the rampaging outbreak.

The CDC stressed in its new release that as per an earlier published guidance, American airlines and foreign airlines traveling nonstop to or from the country are allowed "to deny boarding to air travellers with serious contagious diseases that could spread during flight." The guidance further positioned flight crews to assess the risk of Ebola by getting more information. Flight crews are directed to ask sick travellers whether they were in a country with an Ebola outbreak. "Look for or ask about Ebola symptoms: fever (gives a history of feeling feverish or having chills), severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea (several trips to the lavatory), stomach pain, or unexplained bleeding or bruising."

The new guidelines specifically stated that:

  • A U.S. Department of Transportation rule permits airlines to deny boarding to air travellers with serious contagious diseases that could spread during flight, including travellers with possible Ebola symptoms. This rule applies to all flights of U.S. airlines, and to direct flights (no change of planes) to or from the United States by foreign airlines.
  • Cabin crew should follow routine infection control precautions for onboard sick travellers. If in-flight cleaning is needed, cabin crew should follow routine airline procedures using personal protective equipment available in the Universal Precautions Kit. If a traveller is confirmed to have had infectious Ebola on a flight, CDC will conduct an investigation to assess risk and inform passengers and crew of possible exposure.
  • Hand hygiene and other routine infection control measures should be followed.
  • Treat all body fluids as though they are infectious.