If you're flying to the United States this autumn, add one more item to your pre-flight checklist. From 3 November, every US-bound airline passenger — including Americans — will need to file an attestation, digital or on paper, confirming they have not been in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the previous 21 days. The new order comes from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as it tightens the screw on a serious Ebola outbreak in central Africa.
The move ramps up rules that have been building all year. Back in May, the CDC banned airline passengers who had spent time in the DRC — the centre of the 2026 outbreak — in the prior three weeks, and in July those restrictions were extended to US citizens as well. Earlier in the year, foreign nationals who had passed through Uganda or South Sudan in the preceding three weeks were also barred from entry. The new attestation layer applies across the board, to all arriving passengers regardless of nationality.
The scale of the outbreak explains the caution. The Bundibugyo strain circulated undetected for months before the outbreak was declared in May. It kills roughly half of those it infects, and there's currently no approved treatment or vaccine. The Africa CDC puts the confirmed death toll at around 4,700 people so far. The reassurance for travellers, though, is stark: no cases connected to this outbreak have been reported in the United States to date.
Airlines are still waiting for the fine print. The CDC has scheduled briefing calls with major US and foreign carriers to walk through compliance details, and Airlines for America — the lobby group representing United, American, Southwest and Delta — has yet to comment. In practice, expect airlines to handle the paperwork at check-in or before boarding, similar to the attestation forms used during earlier public health episodes.
Who does this actually affect? For most holidaymakers flying to the US from Europe, Asia or elsewhere, the practical impact is minimal — you'll simply complete a declaration confirming you haven't been in the affected region. The rules bite hardest for anyone travelling to the US via or from Central or East Africa, including passengers connecting through hubs like Addis Ababa, Nairobi or Doha on routings that touch the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan. If your itinerary has included any of those places in the 21 days before departure, expect to be refused boarding or entry under the current CDC orders, and check with your airline before you travel.
It's also a reminder that entry rules can change at short notice when public health is involved. Anyone with a complex multi-country itinerary — especially one crossing African borders — should keep an eye on CDC updates in the weeks after 3 November, when the new attestation system beds in and carriers clarify exactly how the forms will be collected.
Story via The Independent Travel.
