Thailand tightens Ebola checks for DRC and Uganda arrivals 

Thailand has stepped up screening for Thai and foreign travellers arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, as authorities move to prevent Ebola from entering the country.

The Department of Disease Control (DDC) said the tighter measures follow the World Health Organisation’s declaration on May 17 that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and related cases in Uganda, constituted a public health emergency of international concern. The situation has not been classified as a global pandemic.

Thailand has since designated the two countries as Ebola-affected zones under its dangerous communicable disease controls, with the measure taking effect on May 21.

Dr Rome Buathong, acting senior expert physician and director of the DDC’s Division of International Communicable Disease Control, said on Friday (May 22) that all travellers from the two countries, regardless of nationality, must undergo health screening and travel-history checks at Thailand’s communicable disease control checkpoints.

Travellers from risk areas are required to register their health status in advance through the Health Declaration system. For foreign nationals, this will be integrated with the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, while Thai nationals must register through Thai Health Pass.

Airlines are also required to submit passenger information to the DDC before aircraft land in Thailand, allowing officials to receive travellers and assess their risk immediately on arrival.

Rome said more countries could be added to Thailand’s Ebola-affected list if the outbreak spreads further. Conversely, countries may be removed from the list if the situation comes under control.

Three levels of disease-control measures

The DDC has outlined three levels of measures for travellers after screening.

The first is health observation. Travellers who show no symptoms on arrival will be allowed to continue their normal activities, but public health officials will monitor their condition for 21 days. If no symptoms develop, monitoring will end. If symptoms appear, they will be transferred to hospital isolation.

The second is quarantine for high-risk travellers. This includes people who have had close contact with an Ebola patient, or those identified by the WHO as contacts requiring quarantine.

Such travellers will be sent from the international communicable disease control checkpoint to the quarantine centre at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute, which has 60 rooms and can accommodate 90 people. If symptoms develop, they will be transferred to hospital isolation.

The third is immediate isolation. Travellers found to have symptoms at the checkpoint will be sent directly to hospital isolation.

Five travellers screened on first day

Rome said Thailand currently has no direct flights from either the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Uganda.

On May 21, five travellers from the two countries entered Thailand. Four had travelled from Uganda and one from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They included one Thai national, one Filipino national and three Ugandan nationals. All had Bangkok as their final destination.

None showed symptoms during screening, so they were placed under health observation, with officials checking their condition daily for 21 days.

A retrospective check over the previous 20 days, from April 29 to May 18, found that 126 travellers from the two countries had entered Thailand. Of these, 114 came from Uganda and 12 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most arrived through Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Rome said Thailand was currently receiving around six to seven travellers a day from the two countries, a number he described as manageable.

He warned that if an airline knowingly allowed a passenger with known risk factors or symptoms to enter Thailand and this led to an outbreak, the airline would be responsible for all disease-control costs. However, if the situation was deemed unavoidable, the details would have to be reviewed with relevant agencies.

Members of the public who are infected but violate disease-control measures could face fines or imprisonment, he added.

Asked whether travellers could slip through screening if they did not fly directly from the two risk countries but stopped over elsewhere first, Rome acknowledged that some cases could be missed, particularly if travellers bought separate bookings and stayed in a third country before entering Thailand.

However, he said Thailand had sought cooperation from airlines and immigration authorities to help check travel histories. Public notices are also being used to encourage travellers from risk areas to report their information to public health officials.

No suspected Ebola cases in Thailand this year

Dr Jurai Wongsawat, senior expert physician and DDC spokeswoman, said medicines and vaccines exist for the Zaire strain of Ebola, but there is still no medicine or vaccine for the Bundibugyo strain currently spreading. She said vaccine development could take at least three to nine months.

The incubation period for Ebola is two to 21 days. Early symptoms can resemble influenza, including sudden high fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, vomiting and diarrhoea, before the disease may progress to more severe symptoms such as abnormal bleeding. The fatality rate is estimated at around 40–80%.

“In 2026, Thailand has not found any suspected or confirmed Ebola cases,” Jurai said.

She said Ebola patients generally develop severe symptoms, making it less likely that they would travel far from outbreak areas. As a result, transmission has remained largely limited to Africa.

Ebola’s average reproduction rate is around 1.95, meaning the disease can spread but usually requires close contact, Jurai added.