# Why travel restrictions won't stop ebola **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569 "2014-10-16T19:48:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/1 "2014-10-16T19:48:42Z")
U.S. Representative Ed Royce, R-California wants to suspend visas for non-U.S. nationals in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. CDC Director Tom Frieden says a travel ban won’t work. Have any countries enacted a travel ban? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/2 "2014-10-16T19:59:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Have any countries enacted a travel ban? Googling produces many links including [this article](http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/ebola-travel-ban/2014/10/16/id/601025/) listing a bunch of countries that have enacted bans or restrictions, among them: Gambia
 Nigeria
 Togo
 Gabon
 Ivory Coast
 Senegal
 Rwanda
 Chad
 South Sudan
 Namibia
 Angola
 Botswana
 South Africa
 Congo (DRC)
 Lesotho
 Equatorial Guinea
 Kenya
 Madagascar
 Malawi
 Mauritius
 Mozambique
 Swaziland
 Tanzania
 Zambia 
 Zimbabwe
 Cameroon
 Gabon
 Morocco ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2014, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/3 "2014-10-16T20:19:47Z")
Thanks, Xema. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/4 "2014-10-17T05:34:27Z")
I just posted something on Facebook about it. Want to make sure my facts are correct. I said that if someone traveled from Liberia to France, and continued on the America, we’d have no way of knowing they originally were in Liberia. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/5 "2014-10-17T05:40:57Z")
How was the person traveling? If they booked a flight from Liberia to the US, with a connection in France, we would know. If they had a one way flight from Liberia to France, and then took another flight to the US that was not booked as a single journey, it would be more difficult. However, they presumably would have stamps from both Liberia and France in their passport, and this could be checked at immigration. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/6 "2014-10-17T05:42:25Z")
Why don’t we ban the flights from those countries? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/7 "2014-10-17T05:47:23Z")
Okay, if that’s true, WHY are responsible news sources telling us that stopping flights won’t stop ebola? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/8 "2014-10-17T05:47:27Z")
According to an article I heard in CNN today, there are no flights directly from West Africa to North America. Travellers from West Africa fly to Western Europe and then from Western Europe to North America. So you’d have to ban all flights from Western Europe. ---
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/9 "2014-10-17T05:49:12Z")
Travel restrictions would also encourage people to lie about their travels – something that would be a nightmare for public health officials. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/10 "2014-10-17T05:55:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > How was the person traveling? If they booked a flight from Liberia to the US, with a connection in France, we would know. If they had a one way flight from Liberia to France, and then took another flight to the US that was not booked as a single journey, it would be more difficult. However, they presumably would have stamps from both Liberia and France in their passport, and this could be checked at immigration. Unless, of course, they had both a US passport and a Liberian passport. Or a US passport and a passport of any other country. They can enter the US on the US passport, and stamps denoting entry into Liberia (if any) in the other passport will go unnoticed. Or they may have entered Liberia or another affected country by a method which doesn’t involved getting passports stamped - worldwide, it’s quite common to be able to cross a land border with minimal formalities, though I couldn’t say whether this is true for any of the countries currently affected by ebola fever. You can ask passengers arriving in the US (or boarding a flight to the US) if they have recently been in Liberia (or any other country). But it’s very difficult comprehensively to police the correctness of the answers they offer. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/11 "2014-10-17T06:05:46Z")
Why don’t we ban the flights and then pressure Europe to do the same? Or just occupy those originating airports and ground their flights? ---
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/12 "2014-10-17T06:30:30Z")
A temporay travel ban may [only delay](http://www.forbes.com/sites/jvchamary/2014/10/13/ebola-travel/) instead of preventing the spread of Ebola. There are basically some good reasons why an outright travel ban is problematic. I’m not sure about your second suggestion – are you proposing the US invade West African countries to enforce a grounding of their flights? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/13 "2014-10-17T07:38:51Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Or just occupy those originating airports and ground their flights? So…no more doctors or nurses or supplies, then? That sounds like a good way to fix the problem. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/14 "2014-10-17T10:43:30Z")
Reply might have been being sarcastic with that “occupy” comment – taking a jab at the hysterical folks out there. I suggest we hold off on the serious replies to it until he/she confirms or denies this. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/15 "2014-10-17T12:14:33Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Why don’t we ban the flights and then pressure Europe to do the same? > > Or just occupy those originating airports and ground their flights? Meh, that just exposes your own people. Crater the runways of their commercial airports instead. STOL craft can still land. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/16 "2014-10-17T13:40:03Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Why don’t we ban the flights from those countries? Because there are no flights from those countries. How can you ban flights from Liberia to the US when there are no flights from Liberia to the US? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/17 "2014-10-17T14:32:39Z")
Everybody has a passport. In the pages of the passport is a record of every country they entered or left, and the date. If somebody shows up at the border, you page through their passport and see what countries they’ve been in in the recent weeks or months or years. If I fly from Liberia to France, and then to the USA, there is a page in my passport with a date stamp on it, stating when I flew out of Liberia. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/18 "2014-10-17T14:41:33Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Everybody has a passport. In the pages of the passport is a record of every country they entered or left, and the date. If somebody shows up at the border, you page through their passport and see what countries they’ve been in in the recent weeks or months or years. > > If I fly from Liberia to France, and then to the USA, there is a page in my passport with a date stamp on it, stating when I flew out of Liberia. Everybody has at least one passport. See post #7 above for what happens when people have two or more. Plus, you are assuming that border controls in the countries affected are as reliable as those in western Europe, and that’s a false assumption. In a country [where a sufficient bribe will change the cause of death on a death certificate](https://news.yahoo.com/ebola-families-bodies-bribes-153423993.html), what makes you think a sufficient bribe won’t make a passport have or not have a particular stamp? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/19 "2014-10-17T14:55:44Z")
There are probably ways to evade travel restrictions, such as the two-passports stratagems mentioned above, or simple bribery. However, the vast majority of people do not have two passports, and bribery is less likely to be effective for flights with a connection in Europe. Travel restrictions if imposed could potentially block a large percentage of travelers between West Africa and other countries. (Not that I advocate such restrictions.) In my experience most countries stamp passports both on entry and exit. (There are some exceptions, such as Cuba, I believe Israel, and travel between most EU countries - although for the latter the passport is stamped for travel outside the EU.) For international travel, airlines are generally required to examine passports on check-in to determine if the traveler has a valid visa and other requirements to enter a country. In theory at least, a travel ban could be implemented that would block most travelers that did not take exceptional steps to evade it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569/20 "2014-10-17T14:55:56Z")
Even setting aside bribery, not every immigration authority stamps passports at every entry or exit at every port of entry & border crossing. And even if they do, there’s no guarantee the date written is legible or correct. The key things folks forget about all bans is that banning something greatly INCREASES the value to be had by sneaking past the ban. So more folks will try harder and in a more sophisticated way to beat the ban. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-travel-restrictions-wont-stop-ebola/701569.md?page=2)