Mexico’s flagship airline, Aeroméxico, has joined the local Government’s measures along with the United States and Canada to prevent the spread of Ebola during the World Cup in North America. The company has announced on its social media that it will restrict entry to its flights for travelers who have been in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or South Sudan in the last 21 days. “Passengers holding a Mexican passport are exempt from this measure, which has been in effect since May 28 and for a period of 60 calendar days,” they have detailed. The rest of the airlines will have to comply with the same instructions amid alarms over an outbreak that has already caused more than 220 deaths.
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The Government of Mexico has announced that it will install health filters at the country’s main international airports. “We have preventive measures. And we will also conduct a documentary review and check the itinerary that passengers may have had, because they may not necessarily have arrived from those places, but may have been in Europe or in some other country,” explained the Secretary of Health, David Kershenobich Stalnikowitz. The official recalled that no cases have been registered within national borders and that the outbreak is contained in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda. However, the authorities have deployed a preventive action plan in view of the thousands of visitors expected as the host country of the 2026 World Cup, particularly for the match where the Congo team will face Colombia in Guadalajara, Jalisco, on June 23. “Mexico recommends that people who have stayed or transited in the last 21 days in the Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan reschedule their trip for a later date,” added Kershenobich.
Other Mexican airlines, such as Vivaerobus or Volaris, have also posted on their social media that they will restrict access to passengers who have transited through the affected countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a “public health emergency of international concern” due to the new Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus, which has a fatality rate ranging from 30% to 50% and for which there is no authorized vaccine or specific treatment.
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Nevertheless, Mexican travelers are exempt from this measure and will be able to enter the country even if they have been in any of the countries where the outbreak is still advancing strongly. “While there, they must take care not to be in contact with people who have Ebola. But no, they have no particular restriction to enter the country,” Kershenobich specified. The president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has assured that airports are prepared to contain a possible positive case. “If there is a case of a Mexican coming from these countries, then at the airport they are given all the guidance so that they can be isolated, the health filter, and the visits that need to be made. In the case of visitors, they are advised to be isolated for 21 days beforehand, through the travel agencies themselves,” she clarified.
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