US to process Ebola-area travellers in 5 airports

New York

THE United States ratcheted up its safeguards against Ebola on Tuesday, requiring travellers from three countries at the centre of an epidemic in West Africa to fly into one of five major airports conducting enhanced screening for the virus.

The restrictions on passengers whose trips originated in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea were announced by the US Department of Homeland Security and were set to go into effect on Wednesday. The precautions stop well short of the travel ban sought by some US lawmakers to prevent further Ebola cases in the United States.

Affected travellers will have their temperatures checked for signs of a fever that may indicate Ebola infection, among other protocols, at New Yo…