Stanford travelers advised to avoid West Africa

Members of the Stanford community are being advised to avoid nonessential, university-related travel to West Africa until the Ebola outbreak is controlled.

A university advisory recommends that members of the university community avoid nonessential, Stanford-related travel to the West Africa region until the Ebola outbreak is controlled.

Stanford’s health, safety and international affairs offices have been closely monitoring the outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa and have issued strong recommendations that travelers to the region return home or refrain from embarking on Stanford-related trips to the area.

While Ebola is not easily contracted or spread, the outbreak has created an unstable situation for the medical and transportation infrastructure in the region, including in countries adjacent to outbreak areas. As a result, Stanford’s Infection Control Working Group and the Office of International Affairs are strongly recommending that members of the university community avoid nonessential travel to the West Africa region until the outbreak is controlled.

“We want to be certain that, should conditions worsen in the near future, travelers will have transportation home, or if they find themselves in need of emergency health care for any reason, that there will be adequate medical support,” said Larry Gibbs, associate vice provost for Environmental Health and Safety. “These are precautions Stanford is taking to assure the safety of any travelers, because travel conditions could change very suddenly if Ebola cases occur within a country. We will continue to monitor the situation and update our guidance as appropriate.”

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.

2023 ISSUE 3

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