Canada and Thailand are rushing to strengthen border measures to prevent Ebola virus from crossing their borders following the latest Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Canadian government on Tuesday announced a series of temporary border measures to reduce the risk of the Ebola virus entering and spreading within Canada.
According to a news release from the Public Health Agency of Canada, in response to the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and rising risks in Uganda and South Sudan, Canada will suspend immigration documents for residents of these countries for 90 days, starting Wednesday at 23:59 Eastern Time.
A technician tests Ebola samples in the lab at Uganda Virus Research Institute in Entebbe, Uganda, May 26, 2026. /VCG
Thailand has also tightened its defenses against Ebola, imposing a mandatory 21-day quarantine for all travelers arriving from the DRC and Uganda, the Ministry of Public Health said on Tuesday.
Somruk Jungsaman, permanent secretary of the ministry, said in a statement that Thai authorities will cover the cost of quarantine and isolation for the first 72 hours.
Under the new rules, travelers from or transiting through the two African countries who show no symptoms will be confined to a designated quarantine facility for a minimum of 21 days, and those displaying symptoms consistent with Ebola virus disease will be isolated in a designated state hospital for at least the same period, according to Somruk.
A healthcare worker takes a visitor's temperature at Rwampara Hospital in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 26, 2026. /VCG
The measures follow the World Health Organization's (WHO) recent declaration of the Ebola outbreak strain as a public health emergency of international concern.
Ebola outbreaks were confirmed in the DRC and in Uganda in May 2026. Speaking at a virtual ministerial briefing on the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak on Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 101 cases and 10 deaths had been confirmed so far in the DRC, while more than 900 suspected cases and 220 suspected deaths had also been reported. Five confirmed cases and one death have been confirmed in Uganda, according to the WHO chief.
(With input from Xinhua News Agency)