You probably have not thought much about Ebola since the last big outbreak faded from the headlines.
Most people do not follow outbreaks in distant countries closely. But a crisis in Central Africa has now grown large enough to change the rules at American airports.
Confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have passed 9,066, with 4,381 deaths recorded, according to Health Ministry figures reported this week by Al Jazeera.
The virus has spread across seven provinces in the country's north and east.
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Officials estimate the confirmed count represents only about one third of actual infections.
That would put the real spread well beyond the headline figure and far past the reach of current treatment centers.
The outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola.
The World Health Organization says this strain has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, which has forced health workers to fall back on isolation, contact tracing and safe burials.
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A Phase 3 clinical trial of Merck's Ervebo vaccine, developed for a different Ebola strain, launched in Ituri province over the summer. Researchers want to see whether it also protects against Bundibugyo. Results are not yet available.
Why containment keeps slipping
Fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels has blocked supplies and health workers from reaching the hardest hit areas.
In some communities, people believe the outbreak is a cover for officials to divert aid money. That mistrust has made contact tracing almost impossible.
The hot spots are Butembo in Nord-Kivu and Bunia in Ituri. Ituri alone accounts for 6,639 cases and 3,074 deaths. Globally, the toll now sits second only to the 2014 to 2016 West Africa epidemic, which killed more than 11,000 people.
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The outbreak has already crossed Congo's borders. Uganda confirmed 20 cases and two deaths earlier this year before being declared Ebola free in August.
Kenya reported its first imported case recently, after a traveler flew through Uganda and died in Nairobi.
What the US has done at the airport
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention placed Ituri and Nord-Kivu provinces at Level 4, meaning avoid all travel. Haut-Uélé and Tshopo sit at Level 3, meaning reconsider nonessential travel.
On October 11, the agency extended a 30-day order barring travelers who have been in the DRC within 21 days from boarding commercial flights to the United States.
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Americans heading home must wait 21 days outside the DRC before entry.
The CDC says no cases tied to this outbreak have been reported in the United States, and considers the likelihood of spread very low.
Travelers coming from the DRC are told to monitor themselves for fever, muscle pain or rash for 21 days after leaving the country.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.