Ebola quarantine hindering response: aid workers

Lily-Madeleine Seguin, a public health promotion adviser with Oxfam, was preparing to depart for a two-month deployment to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in late May when the Canadian government announced a mandatory three-week quarantine for travelers returning from the Ebola-stricken country. Despite completing all necessary preparations and approvals, Seguin was unable to participate in her deployment due to the quarantine measures.

She expressed hope that Canadian officials would reconsider the long quarantine period, stating that Canada, capable of responding effectively, should be doing more to aid the outbreak response. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported this to be the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history, with over 2,500 deaths out of more than 5,000 infections.

Canadian humanitarian aid workers claim that their ability to respond to the outbreak has been hampered by the extended quarantine period, forcing some to cancel their assignments or cut their deployments short. According to the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), at least 11 Canadians have had to cancel their work with the aid group due to the quarantine restrictions, while 23 Canadians have participated in MSF's Ebola response in the DRC.

Health Canada spokesperson Karine LeBlanc stated that the government is continuously reviewing the measures alongside international partners and will announce a decision before the measures expire next week. LeBlanc emphasized that the quarantine is not intended to eliminate all risk but rather to reduce the likelihood of Ebola's importation and early identification of potentially ill travelers, thereby minimizing the risk of potential spread to others in Canada.