The federal government’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) warns that Border Patrol and immigration enforcement agents are at risk of coming into contact with Ebola.
OSHA’s Ebola directive provides interim general guidance for companies and agencies to protect workers who might be exposed to the Ebola virus. The directive contradicts federal government efforts to downplay the threat of Ebola coming over through illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
OSHA specificically identified Border Patrol and security workers as being “at the greatest risk of exposure” alongside healthcare workers, airline and travel industry personnel, mortuary and death care workers, lab workers,
“Workers who interact with people, animals, goods, and equipment arriving in the U.S. from foreign countries with current EHF outbreaks are at the greatest risk for exposure,” OSHA stated.
“Workers involved in border patrol and security, immigration and customs enforcement, and public health investigation and quarantine work may encounter individuals with EHD arriving at U.S. borders from foreign countries impacted by the ongoing epidemic,” OSHA stated. “These types of workers may also be exposed to infected blood and body fluids or other potentially infectious materials, contaminated objects, or other contaminated environmental surfaces as they perform tasks such as inspection of cargo, baggage, and arriving aircraft or vessels.”