NAIROBI, Kenya- CNN International correspondent Larry Madowo says El Salvador denied his visa after Kenya reported Ebola cases, as the Central American country enforces restrictions on travellers who have recently been in eight African nations.
Madowo said on Tuesday, October 20, that the refusal cited Kenya’s Ebola cases despite Kenyan authorities reporting no evidence of transmission beyond a known cluster.
He also criticised El Salvador for including countries in its restrictions where cases had not been reported.
The latest health figures have since changed. Kenya’s Ministry of Health confirmed a ninth case on Tuesday, involving a close relative of the first patient who was already in quarantine.
Health officials said all nine cases were linked to one cluster, with no evidence of transmission beyond known contacts.
Madowo’s visa rejection document, said the application was refused under an El Salvador health directive.
The measure, introduced on June 19, applies to travellers who have been in or transited through specified countries during the 21 days before arriving in El Salvador.
Restriction applies to recent travel
The eight countries named in the directive are Angola, Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda.
A June travel-industry notice citing the Salvadoran Health Ministry’s directive says it applies to passengers and crew regardless of nationality.
Non-Salvadorans who had recently travelled through any of the listed countries would be considered inadmissible and refused entry.
That means the measure is based on recent travel history, not only a person’s citizenship.
The distinction matters because Madowo described El Salvador as having banned citizens of the DRC and neighbouring countries.
The directive’s reported wording is broader in one respect, it covers people of any nationality who came from or transited through the listed countries within the 21-day period.
El Salvador’s ordinary visa rules are separate from the emergency health restriction.
Its Foreign Ministry’s published list classifies Kenyan ordinary passport holders as requiring a “consulted” visa.
The current travel restriction adds a separate bar based on a traveller’s recent presence in a listed country.
The timing of the measure also draws attention.
When Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance in June, it said available data showed Ebola cases in affected parts of the DRC and Uganda, but not in other African countries.
It advised against blanket travel bans, saying they were not supported by public-health evidence and could disrupt travel and outbreak response.
Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case in October.
The World Health Organization has also advised countries against restricting travel or trade with affected countries based on the information available to it.
Its advice does not prevent governments from setting their own border rules, but it offers a public-health counterpoint to broad restrictions applied to entire nationalities or groups of countries.
Kenya reports nine cases
Kenya’s first confirmed case was a man who had been living in the DRC and travelled to Nairobi through Uganda. He died in hospital on October 5.
Subsequent cases have involved people linked to him, including relatives and health workers.
As of Tuesday, health authorities had identified 135 contacts linked to the nine patients, with 134 in quarantine. T
he Ministry has said there is no evidence of transmission beyond the identified group.
That means cases have occurred within the cluster, while authorities have not reported wider community spread.
