Vessels calling from Ebola-affected areas such as Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Senegal within their last five port calls will be subject to a questionnaire before being allowed to dock at ports in the US.
Meanwhile Brazil's health surveillance agency Anvisa would be subjecting vessels docked in Ebola-affected countries within 21 days prior to calling in Brazil to medical record screenings. A spokesman told Reuters: "The ship that arrives from affected areas with no suspected case is cleared by communication over the radio. If necessary, inspectors may come onboard to verify, in detail, the sanitary conditions.”
If an Ebola case were identified, the vessel would be quarantined and those infected immediately taken to hospital. Reports suggest that Africa-Americas shipping would be less vulnerable to contagion than air travel, as a transatlantic trade would provide adequate time for the more serious symptoms of the virus to manifest.
Last month the Panama Canal Authority also announced it would monitor the last 10 port calls of all vessels arriving in the waterway.
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