Should Travel Bans Be Imposed During a Virus Epidemic? - Essay Sample

Introduction

During the Ebola epidemic in 2014, people discussed whether travel bans should be imposed to help in the prevention of the spread of the disease. I strongly believe that imposing a travel ban during a virus epidemic like Ebola in the year 2014 is warranted. The world has become a global village due to the simplicity of travel from one country to another as well as in various continents across the globe by air, road, and water. Travel bans are one of the effective ways of preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as Ebola. Travel bans restrict infected people from traveling and infecting other individuals in other countries. For instance, when countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported numerous cases of Ebola between in the year 2014, travel bans to the country as out of the country was one of the best solutions to slow its spread across the globe (Cohen, 13). To a great extent, travel bans helped to slow down the spread of the disease to other countries, thus making it possible for the rest of the world to focus and help the country. Therefore, travel bans help to contain an infectious disease and prevent its spread across the globe.

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Travel bans prevent tourists from traveling across the globe, thus reducing the chances of transmission of viruses from one country to another. In addition, travel bans hinder social interactions in gatherings such as funerals and weddings, as well as places of worship, which can lead to an increased spread of the virus. Also, when travel bans are affected, people are able to keep social distances both in aircrafts as well as public means of transport by road, thus helping to slow down the spread of the virus.

When one individual is infected with an infectious virus such as Ebola or Corona Virus, they have the potential to spread the virus to all passengers on board. The infected passengers are also likely to spread the virus to other destinations with no registered cases of a virus. As a result, the virus could have the potential of being spread in the whole world and thus lead to far-reaching outcomes such as deaths as well as economic recession. Therefore, imposing a travel ban on countries with reported cases of an infectious virus is the best way to help in controlling its spread. In addition, people from a country with confirmed cases of an infectious virus should be banned from traveling to other countries because they increase the risk of spreading the virus further.

The best way to contain an infectious virus is to request people to remain indoors at home since most of the infectious virus is airborne and has a likelihood of spreading to a large population ( Halabi et al., 789). For instance, Ebola is an airborne infectious disease that is passed from one individual to another by air, such as through a cough or sneezing. Therefore, if travel bans are not implemented, the virus has the potential of spreading to the whole world and can even wipe out the word. Besides, travel bans are imposed due to an epidemic such as Ebola, and it helps to sensitize as well as create awareness on the world about the epidemic (Cohen, 23). As a result, individuals across the world take it with the seriousness it deserves and gives an opportunity for countries with no confirmed cases to help nations that are affected, such as financial and medical aid. Moreover, the seriousness created by travel bans helps in bringing innovations and scientific research, which makes it possible for governments and scientists to develop a vaccine or cure to such an infectious virus.

However, there are some epidemiologists who do not believe that travel bans are warranted in such situations. Such people argue that travel bans do not reduce the spread of the virus, and instead, imposing travel bans only leads to decreased economic growth for the affected countries. Such epidemiologists argue that quick detection of individuals infected by the virus as well as isolating confirmed cases (Enemark, 138). Travel bans only act as a temporary measure to delay the spread of the virus. As a result, some people argue that travel bans should not be imposed since they do not offer a permanent solution to the control of the spread.

The Center for Disease Control suggests that the best way to control the spread of a virus is efficient testing (Enemark, 139). Therefore, due to inaccurate testing, there is usually too much community transmission for travel banns to make much difference. Moreover, they believe that the solution to an infectious disease is research and innovation to help in coming up with its vaccine and treatment (Halabi et al., 790). Therefore, imposing bans is not a solution to prevent the epidemic since it is already within the communities within a country. At such a time, authorities should not be focusing on travel bans but on the cure as well as developing measures to prevent its spread from a local perspective such as insisting on solutions like advocating for individuals to keep social distances as well as practicing basic hygiene practices.

Conclusion

Travel bans help a lot to help in the spread of an infectious disease like Ebola, especially from one country to the other. Travel bans cushion people from unnecessary travels and thus limit the chances of spread of the virus. From the above-described arguments, I strongly believe that imposing travel bans is warranted when handling infectious viruses and diseases such as Ebola.

Works Cited

Cohen, Nicole J. "Travel and border health measures to prevent the international spread of Ebola." MMWR supplements 65 (2016). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/su/su6503a9.htm

Enemark, Christian. "Ebola, disease control, and the Security Council: from securitization to securing circulation." Journal of Global Security Studies 2.2 (2017): 137-149. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/jogss/article/2/2/137/3765303

Halabi, Sam, and Lawrence O. Gostin. "Book Review: Vierck, Leonie/Villarreal, Pedro A./ Weilert, A. Katarina (eds.): The Governance of Disease Outbreaks. International Health Law: Lessons from the Ebola Crisis and Beyond." International Health Law: Lessons from the Ebola Crisis and Beyond (October 19, 2018) 78.3 (2018): 789-806. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3269836