The role that air travel plays in the hypothetical spread of a pandemic is well understood.  The number of contacts and possible infections rises exponentially as travelers transfer from country to country and congregate in airports, which serve as a mingling environment for infectious disease.

Ebola has an incubation period of up to 21 days.  Therefore, temperature screenings and other symptom tests are not effective in screening ebola infected travelers.

Therefore, travel out of a country experiencing an ebola outbreak should be restricted to those travelers who EITHER submit to a 21 day monitored quarantine OR have been confirmed disease free with a blood test.  An ebola outbreak shall be defined as five or more ebola infections that occurred within the country and were not simply imported after infection took place.  As of October 7, 2014, the United States has had zero such infections and Spain has had one.

The United States should be held to this same standard and US travelers should meet these requirements if the US has such an outbreak.

An exception would be made for patients in treatment who travel by medical conveyance instead of commercial travel.  In this way, aid workers and medical personnel can be returned to their home countries for treatment.

A further exception would be made for aid workers, NGOs and government/military personnel who are traveling for the purposes of aid or relief into a country with an ebola outbreak and who are not utilizing commercial travel or public airports.

Ebola is a very deadly virus with mortality rates that can rise as high as 90%.  Even in the absence of airborne transmission, the bodily fluids that are routinely exchanged in public places make airports and air travel a vector for a possible pandemic.  I strongly urge the President of the United States and the Congress to implement a common sense quarantine and testing regime for affected countries while this crisis is in it's infancy.