The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dramatically widening its authority to block people from entering the United States for public health reasons, including lawful permanent residents, as officials scramble to contain concerns surrounding the ongoing Ebola outbreak in central Africa.

Under a new interim final rule issued Friday, lawful permanent U.S. residents who have recently traveled through the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan will temporarily be barred from entering the country if they were in those nations within the previous 21 days. The restriction is expected to remain in effect through mid-June, according to the agency.

Federal officials said the move was prompted by the expanding Ebola outbreak currently affecting the region.

One administration official, speaking anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue, warned that enforcing the new policy could prove highly problematic.

“It will be extremely challenging to implement without chaos and confusion.”

The order significantly broadens already-existing travel measures tied to the spread of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, a version of the disease for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.

Earlier this week, the CDC announced that foreign nationals who had recently been present in Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan would be prohibited from entering the United States.

American citizens returning from those countries are still permitted entry, but they must arrive through Washington Dulles International Airport, where federal authorities have implemented heightened health screening procedures.

The restrictions rank among the toughest travel controls ever imposed by the United States during an Ebola outbreak. Since Ebola was first identified in the 1970s, more than 30 outbreaks have been recorded worldwide, including the deadly west Africa epidemic between 2014 and 2016 that killed more than 11,000 people.

“The rule does not permanently bar lawful permanent residents from returning to the United States,” a Friday statement from the CDC said. “Instead, it gives CDC discretionary authority to restrict entry when needed and allowed by law.”

According to a report in the New York Times that Politico said it could not independently verify, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials earlier this week diverted an Air France flight carrying a passenger from Congo, forcing the plane to land in Montreal instead of its scheduled destination in Detroit.

Health authorities say the outbreak has already resulted in more than 700 suspected infections and over 150 suspected deaths, with the overwhelming majority of cases reported inside Congo.

Officials at the World Health Organization fear the virus may have been spreading undetected for months before being identified, partly because health workers initially were not testing for the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the outbreak.

{Matzav.com}