While a growing number of Ebola infections has prompted lockdown measures in portions of Uganda, no cases have yet been reported in the U.S., according to health officials.
In an email Monday, the Chicago Department of Public Health told NBC News the risk of Ebola remains low domestically and that to date, no suspected, probable or confirmed cases have occurred in the U.S.
The Biden administration announced earlier this month that travelers arriving to the U.S. from Uganda would be screened for Ebola at one of five airports, including O'Hare International Airport, as an additional precaution in the attempt to curb the outbreak from spreading.
The screening applies to any passenger who was in Uganda, including U.S. citizens, and involves a temperature and symptom check conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Chicago, CDPH explained it follows up with all travelers returning from Uganda to confirm travel and exposure histories, and to enroll travelers for symptom monitoring.
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Travelers who have been in Uganda at any point during the past 21 days, which is the incubation period for the virus, are being directed to either O'Hare, Kennedy International Airport in New York, Washington Dulles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
As of Monday, CDPH said there was no one in Chicago with Ebola under isolation or anyone with quarantine orders.
Earlier this month, Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of CDPH, discussed preparedness and planning for the possibility of Ebola cases in the city, saying three hospitals are capable of evaluating and treating patients who may have the disease. However, the doctor asserted she was "not highly concerned at all" about the outbreak spreading to the U.S.
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"I do not have a high expectation at all that we would see Ebola cases here," the doctor said. "...But our team and CDPH, no matter what, when there is an outbreak of something around the world... We are a very globally connected city, and we do a lot of work to make sure that we are as ready as we can be," she said.
Ebola has infected 58 people in Uganda since Sept. 20, when authorities declared an outbreak. At least 19 people have died, including four health workers. Authorities in the country were not quick in detecting the outbreak, which began infecting people in a farming community in August as the "strange illness" described by local authorities.
Ugandan authorities on Saturday imposed a travel lockdown on two Ebola-hit districts as part of efforts to stop the spread of the disease.
The new measures come amid concern that some patients in the Ebola hot spots could surreptitiously try to seek treatment elsewhere — as did one man earlier this month, rattling health officials. Ebola, which manifests as a viral hemorrhagic fever, can be difficult to detect at first because fever is also a symptom of malaria.
Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids of an infected person or contaminated materials. Symptoms include fever, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain and at times internal and external bleeding.
