Costa Rica on alert for Ebola; Top U.S. general fears “mass migration” from CentAm in case of outbreak

October 13^th, 2014 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rica is on high alert for the Ebola virus and a top U.S. general is warning that mass migration from Central America is a very real threat should an outbreak occur in the region.

“The immediate thing that really keeps me awake at night, I tell you, it’s the Ebola issue,” said Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, commander of U.S. Southern Command to an audience at the National Defense University in the United States last week.

Kelly, who is in charge of all U.S. military activity in South and Central America and whose concerns typically range from the drug trade to human trafficking, said that countries in the region, particularly in Central America, have “no ability” to deal with a potential outbreak of Ebola, and such an outbreak “would rage for some period of time” as we are seeing in West Africa.

Kelly foresees thousands of people fleeing countries in Central America should the virus take hold.  “These populations will move to either run away from Ebola, or, in the fear of having been infected, to get to the United States, where they would be taken care of,” Kelly said, adding that such an outbreak would “make the 68,000 unaccompanied children […] look like a small problem.”

Both Costa Rican and U.S. authorities believe an Ebola outbreak is a real threat, particularly due to the significant number of West Africans who have been arriving in Costa Rica – usually undocumented – en route to the United States via human trafficking networks.

Kelly said that while in Costa Rica a couple of weeks ago, one of his staffers at the U.S. embassy recounted a case he witnessed firsthand of West Africans traveling freely through Costa Rica en route to the United States.

The staffer said that during a recent visit to the northern border with Nicaragua, he spoke to five or six men who were waiting in line to cross the border into Nicaragua, and a casual conversation revealed that the men were from Liberia in West Africa and were on their way to New York City.

Meanwhile, Costa Rican immigration, health, and security officials have been placed on high alert.

The Ministry of Public Security (MSP) recently issued a directive to all of the country’s police officers to not handle or move corpses under any circumstances, regardless if Ebola is suspected.

Whether a traffic accident or crime scene, police officers have been instructed to leave such duties to health officials instead, who possess the necessary equipment to avoid becoming infected with contagious diseases which could be spread through the handling of a corpse, including Ebola.

Immigration authorities, meanwhile, are taking undocumented immigrants of African origin who come under their custody to the Calderon Guardia Hospital for Ebola screening before being transported to immigration facilities for deportation.