Rubio says US cannot allow any Ebola cases to enter the country

WASHINGTON - The United States must prevent any cases of Ebola from entering the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where an outbreak has already caused a suspected 220 deaths and 900 cases, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday.

"We cannot and will not allow any cases of Ebola to enter the United States," Rubio told President Donald Trump at a cabinet meeting.

"The State Department and other agencies represented here, the Centers for Disease Control, HHS, others, are working very, very hard to contain this crisis to the countries where it's currently located, particularly the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and so we surged assistance to make sure that it is being contained there," Rubio said.

The U.S. CDC last week imposed entry restrictions for 30 days on travelers who have been in the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan in the past 21 days, including lawful permanent residents, known as Green Card holders. It is also screening people traveling from those countries at three U.S. airports.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein;Editing by David Ljunggren and Caitlin Webber)

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 9:45 AM.