After US travel restrictions stemming from the Ebola outbreak forced a commercial flight to divert to Montreal while carrying a passenger from one of the countries facing those new rules, Canadians may be wondering whether Canada should impose its own travel restrictions.
The World Health Organization declared on Sunday that the Ebola outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and Uganda constitutes a public health emergency of international concern, with at least 139 suspected deaths and more than 600 suspected cases.
“We expect these numbers to continue to increase,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said on Wednesday.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Department of Homeland Security Imposing an entry ban into the United States Foreign travelers who have been in Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the past 21 days must “effective immediately.”
“At this time, CDC assesses the immediate risk to the general U.S. public as low, but we will continue to evaluate the evolving situation and may adjust public health measures as additional information becomes available,” a statement from the CDC said.
Currently, the Canadian government advises Canadians to avoid travel to Ituri and North Kivu provinces, due to safety and security concerns.
However, the government has Issued a Level 2 Travel Notice for Congoany It is set for reference “Increase risks to travelers or certain groups of travelers (e.g., pregnant women, campers, people visiting friends and relatives) and remind them to practice enhanced health precautions.”
There are currently no travel notices for South Sudan and Uganda in relation to the Ebola outbreak.
The notice advises Canadians to “practice enhanced health precautions” such as:
- Use personal protective equipment
- Delay travel until the risks decrease
- Additional vaccinations recommended for some groups
- Avoid high-risk activities
Global News reached out to infectious disease experts to ask whether travel bans could be effective and whether Canada should follow suit.
Dr. Gerald Evans, professor of medicine and infectious diseases at Queen’s University, believes that Canadian travel restrictions are not necessary.
“We know that travel restrictions don’t work when it comes to controlling the spread of something like a viral hemorrhagic fever virus like Ebola,” he said.
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This is a view that Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital, also agrees with.
“These are not very effective measures at keeping infectious diseases out,” he said.
Compared to the travel restrictions that came as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Bogoch said the spread of the two diseases is vastly different.
“In the case of Covid, the incubation period is short and there is transmission of the virus before people show clear symptoms, so it is highly contagious and difficult to control,” he said.
“We closed our borders (…) and a lot of that was performative. It didn’t really impact the importation of Covid. We put travel bans on certain countries, and that also wasn’t very effective.”
Evans also mentioned that recent exposure to Hantavirus has made people wary of the possibility of another pandemic.
“The Hantavirus problem that we had recently with the cruise ship and now the Ebola outbreak in East Africa, I can definitely see that this is not going to become an epidemic. It’s spreading in a completely different way,” he said.
“Covid is a respiratory virus, so it was relatively easy to transmit between people, just like the common cold or flu and respiratory syncytial virus. It’s a very different picture with these viruses (Ebola and Hantavirus), which are transmitted through a different mechanism than Covid.”
Compared to Ebola and Hantavirus, Evans said the spread of both diseases stems “only when you get sick, and the more sick you get, you actually get a lot of transmission.”
“By then, you’ve already identified someone who’s sick and maybe tested them and found out what they have. Covid has been more difficult,” he said.
Bogoch also said that with people traveling at “unprecedented” rates, it makes containing these diseases more difficult.
““The sad truth is that we are in an era of unprecedented human mobility on a global scale,” he said. “You can start in one corner of the world and be in any other part of the world within 24 hours through commercial means.”“
“There will still be outbreaks, but we must have systems in which we clearly support low- and middle-income countries so that they are better able to prevent, detect and respond to these (outbreaks),” he said.
How serious is the Ebola outbreak?
There is no approved treatment for Ebola in Canada. Patients can receive oxygen, intravenous fluids and other medications at designated treatment sites to help relieve symptoms. According to the Canadian government.
While the World Health Organization I decided to have an outbreak It constitutes a public health emergency of international concern and does not meet the criteria for a pandemic emergency.
The outbreak is caused by Bundibugyo virus disease (BVD), a type of Ebola. There are no approved vaccines or specific treatments for BVD.
Most cases were reported in Ituri District, including Mongowalo, Rumbara and Bunia health zones. Ituri District borders Uganda, where imported cases linked to this outbreak have been reported.
Cases have also been reported in Goma, North Kivu province. In response, border crossings between Goma and neighboring Rwanda (Goma-Giseni) have been closed until further notice due to the outbreak.
&Copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
