There have been recent outbreaks of communicable diseases in other parts of the world, including Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia as well as increased cases of a new serious respiratory virus known as MERS or Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome.
People arriving in the United States from an affected area should monitor their health, and if they feel sick they should contact their health provider immediately and tell him or her about their recent travel and potential contacts.
Carolina students, fellows and scholars should contact Campus Health at (919) 966-2281 and ask to speak with a registered nurse; people can call this number 24 hours a day, seven days a week (see http://campushealth.unc.edu/general-info/contact-us). Faculty and staff should contact the University Employee Occupational Health Clinic (UEOHC) at 919-966-9119 (see http://ehs.unc.edu/ueohc/).
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued a Level 3 Travel Warningadvising against nonessential travel to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. In addition, the CDC is continuing its screening and education efforts to prevent sick passengers from traveling to other areas from the affected countries.
Whenever travel warnings are issued by the CDC or the U.S. Department of State, or travel notices are issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the University acts accordingly and can restrict or prohibit travel by its students, faculty and staff to those areas. The University endeavors to balance the value of participation in international educational activities against the potential risk to its students, faculty and staff. See more about the policy and the factors that go into these decisions athttp://provost.unc.edu/files/2012/10/UNC-Travel-Policy-10.18.2010.pdf, or http://global.unc.edu/travel-info.
Campus Health Services also includes current information about health-related travel to other countries on its website; see http://campushealth.unc.edu/general-info/feature-stories/international-travel-alert.html.