Nairobi — CNN correspondent Larry Madowo said on Tuesday that El Salvador had denied him a visa because Kenya had reported eight Ebola cases, even as Kenyan health authorities maintain there is no widespread outbreak.
Madowo posted that El Salvador has banned citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and several neighboring East and Central African countries, including some, such as Rwanda and Ethiopia, that have reported no cases. The denial comes amid Kenya’s first cluster of Bundibugyo Ebola virus disease, linked to a single imported infection.
Kenya confirmed its first case in early October after a Kenyan man who had been living in the DRC became ill, travelled by road through Uganda, and flew to Nairobi, where he died on October 5. Subsequent cases among contacts, including relatives and health workers, brought the total to eight by mid-October. Kenyan officials have described the cases as imported and contained, with extensive contact tracing and quarantine measures in place. The World Health Organization has advised against travel or trade restrictions on Kenya, Uganda, or the DRC based on available information.
The United States this week raised its travel advisory for Kenya to Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”), citing health risks among other factors, after the eighth case was reported. The US has also maintained entry suspensions for travellers who have recently been in the DRC, Uganda, or South Sudan. Kenya has itself introduced enhanced screening, health declarations, and other controls at ports of entry following the imported case.
El Salvador’s reported visa ban and broader restrictions on citizens from the region have not been widely detailed in official statements, but they illustrate how some countries are responding to the regional outbreak with stricter measures than those recommended by the WHO. The Bundibugyo outbreak in eastern DRC, which began in May, has involved thousands of cases and deaths. Kenya’s Ministry of Health continues to stress that the local cases remain limited and under control.