ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Oct 23, CMC – Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Kamaria DeCastro, says Antigua and Barbuda has strengthened its surveillance measures to guard against the potential introduction of Ebola ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which gets underway here from November 1.
The active Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus is most concentrated in the eastern and northeastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
There are 21 African countries which are members of the 56-member Commonwealth grouping with the African countries most affected by Ebola include the DRC, along with Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea.
Dr. DeCastro said that the country will continue to be high alert as it prepares to welcome delegates for the five-day CHOGM, noting that the systems designed to identify and respond to potential cases were established before reports of Ebola cases linked to air travel emerged in Kenya and Nigeria.
She said protecting citizens, residents and visitors requires a coordinated effort involving the Ministry of Health and other agencies responsible for immigration, air travel and border control.
“I would like to reiterate that the surveillance measures don’t fall on the Ministry of Health only or the health sector,” DeCastro said, noting the importance of collaboration among
the various agencies involved in monitoring arriving passengers.
One of the key measures is the health declaration form incorporated into the ArriveAntigua portal. The form was uploaded after Ebola was declared a public health emergency of interna-
tional concern earlier this year, allowing authorities to obtain information that could trigger an alert before a passenger arrives in the country.
The CMO said she recently contact-ed the Immigration Department to request that it reinforce the requirement with overseas partners to ensure passengers travelling by air to Antigua and Barbuda complete the form.
The authoriies say the information gathered through the portal helps establish an early-warn-
ing system, allowing health authorities to identify potential concerns and prepare for further assessment where necessary.
Dr. DeCastro said also benefits from information shared through the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), including real-time alerts transmitted through the Advanced Passenger Information System.
She said her these arrangements allow information to be channeled to the health authorities when a potential risk is identified, strengthening the country’s ability to respond before and upon the arrival travellers.
Airport screening also forms a critical part of the preparedness plan, particularly with the arrival of Air Peace flights.
The Chief Medical Officer said health teams have been deployed at the airport from the airline’s first flight, with the Antigua and Barbuda Airport Authority providing advance information to facilitate preparations.
Every passenger disembarking from the aircraft, including members of the crew, undergoes screening, which includes temperature checks. Health personnel also examine paper-based health declaration forms, with nurses, the port health officer and environmental health officers involved in reviewing the documents for information that may require further attention.
Dr. Kamaria DeCastro said these procedures form part of an established system that was tested before the recent reports of Ebola cases in Kenya and Nigeria.
She said, however, that the country’s preparedness depends on cooperation throughout the travel process, including checks conducted before passengers board aircraft overseas.
“We are really relying on our partner agencies to help us to screen the passengers before they even get on the plane,” she said, pointing to the importance of screening during check-in and other pre-departure procedures.
CMC/ah/ie/2026