Aid workers say Canada’s Ebola quarantine hinders response, hope it won’t be extended

Canadian aid workers are criticizing the country's 21-day quarantine requirements for travellers returning from Ebola-stricken countries, saying it hampers their ability to respond to the outbreak. Lily-Madeleine Seguin, a public health adviser with Oxfam, missed a deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo after the government announced the mandatory quarantine in late May.

Seguin and others argue that the long quarantine period is not based on solid scientific evidence and could harm Canada's efforts to combat the outbreak. The World Health Organization has stated that this is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, with over 5,000 infections and more than 2,500 deaths. Canada's government is reviewing the restrictions and will make a decision before the quarantine expires on August 29.

At least 11 Canadians have had to cancel their assignments with Doctors Without Borders due to the quarantine measures, and 23 have been part of the organization's Ebola response in the DRC. Critics, including a health promotion manager for MSF and a researcher in global health law, say the measures are based on fear rather than science and are detrimental to the response efforts.

Health Canada maintains that the temporary measures are intended to reduce the risk of importation and support early identification of potentially ill travelers.