Authorized under Title 42 and Title 49 public-health authorities

WASHINGTON — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed an updated order Monday that places American citizens who have been in the Democratic Republic of Congo on a do-not-board list for commercial flights into the U.S., according to U.S. officials. The order requires affected travelers to spend 21 days in a third country before they can board a flight home.

The administration is relying on a pair of travel authorities, including the pandemic-era Title 42, which the U.S. government has used to prevent people from entering the country during public-health emergencies, officials said. The restrictions were implemented under a transportation authority known as Title 49.

Officials said the determination was made as the Ebola outbreak, which was declared in mid-May, has expanded to other parts of the DRC that were previously unaffected, including areas just hours outside the capital. The World Health Organization estimates more than 1,700 cases have occurred in the country, resulting in at least 600 deaths.

Roughly two dozen American citizens were scheduled to fly to the U.S. from the DRC on Tuesday, according to officials, who said the State Department is now working with those travelers to help them through the 21-day waiting period before they can board a flight home. The State Department had previously advised citizens to avoid all travel to the DRC amid the outbreak, though many Americans are in the country working for nongovernmental organizations.

The move is the latest in a string of aggressive measures by the Trump administration to prevent Ebola from reaching the U.S. During previous Ebola outbreaks, Americans exposed to the virus were brought back to the U.S. for monitoring or treatment.

As MSI previously reported, the Trump administration had initially planned to establish a quarantine facility in Kenya for Americans exposed to Ebola, but the plan drew fierce opposition from medical groups in Kenya and was halted by a Kenyan high court. The U.S. also urged European leaders to tighten travel restrictions on people arriving from Ebola-hit African countries and warned that a failure to act could lead to new U.S. travel limits on Europe.