The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued an order on 22 October requiring all passengers travelling by air to the United States to confirm they have not been in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) within the previous 21 days.

The rule becomes enforceable on 3 November, and airlines are tasked with ensuring the declaration is completed before boarding, either on paper or digitally.

The CDC will brief major US and international carriers on the implementation details, with airlines bearing responsibility for compliance.

The declaration requirement follows earlier CDC measures that first restricted passengers who had been in the DRC in May 2026, initially applying only to foreign nationals before being extended to US citizens in July.

In addition to the DRC rule, the CDC has also barred foreign nationals who visited Uganda or South Sudan within the past three weeks from entering the United States as part of the broader Ebola response.

The new attestation comes days after Nigeria reported its first Ebola case in over a decade, though US officials have not linked the two developments.

The CDC confirmed that, to date, no Ebola cases linked to the 2026 outbreak have been reported in the United States.