MIT issues travel health warning concerning Mexico

MIT urges community members traveling to Mexico to heed travel warnings and precautions relating to the Swine Influenza outbreak.

• Warning from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Notice from the World Health Organization
• Travel Alert from the United States Department of State

***Please continue to monitor these websites for updates.**

I. Introduction

All members of the MIT community should be able to make well-informed travel decisions, and no one should be coerced or required to travel to locales where there are significantly heightened health or safety risks.

The following guidelines describe the various levels of travel warnings, definitions of MIT Travel, and the policies that apply to MIT Travel. Under these policies, student travel may be restricted under certain circumstances.

MIT will use the best available sources for assessing risk: Travel Advisories from the Department of State (DoS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

II. Defining MIT Travel

1. MIT Travel is defined as travel by any member of the MIT community on MIT business. MIT business is defined as any program or activity that is required or run by MIT or financially supported through any MIT account.
   
   
2. Any member of the MIT community (faculty, staff and students) who is traveling wholly for personal reasons and without financial support by MIT (i.e., without funding through any MIT account) is not subject to MIT’s travel policy. Individual discretion governs decisions regarding such personal travel.
   
   
3. Faculty, staff and students who combine travel on MIT business with travel to their home country for personal reasons must sign MIT’s travel form, but may use their individual discretion regarding decisions to travel to areas on the travel warning lists.

III. Travel Warnings

The following Travel Risk Categorizations were last updated on April 28, 2009 and appear on MIT’s emergency and travel web pages.

On occasion, there may be determinations made by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) or other U.S. government agencies concerning health risks from travel to specified locales that result in restrictions, potentially including quarantines, being imposed as a condition to returning to the United States. For example, if in the future the avian flu or SARS were to be determined to pose a sufficient risk, the CDC or other agencies could cause restrictions to be imposed on entry into the U.S. by individuals who have traveled to locales where they are likely to have been exposed. Travel restrictions imposed by the CDC or the World Health Organization (WHO) are eventually noted on this travel risk policy, but travelers are advised to check the CDC's and WHO's web sites frequently for the most up-to-date travel warnings and advisories. For more information about the circumstances under which a disease-related quarantine may be imposed and a list of diseases see Section IV.F, no. 5.

A. Highest Travel Warning

This applies to countries or areas where any of the following conditions apply:

• DoS personnel and/or their families have been ordered to leave and/or services are not available at US Embassies or consulates.

• The DoS, CDC and/or WHO have determined that there is a very serious health risk and therefore prohibit travel and/or require quarantine before or upon re-entry to the U.S.

Countries or areas currently given the highest travel warning are:

Afghanistan – Burundi – Iran – Iraq – portions of Israel the West Bank, Gaza and within 30 kilometers of Gaza, public transportation throughout Israel, discos and nightclubs throughout Israel and Old Jerusalem at certain times1 – portions of the Philippines: Mindanao Island and the Sulu Archipelago island chain – Serbia – Somalia

B. High Travel Warning

This applies to countries or areas where any of the following conditions apply:

• DoS personnel and/or their family are authorized to leave

• US citizens are urged to delay all but essential travel

• Only emergency or intermittent services are available at U.S. embassies or consulates, and even they may not be available.

• DoS, CDC and/or WHO find there is a serious health risk and inadequate medical care, and urge a delay of all but essential travel.

Countries or areas currently given a high travel warning are:

Central African Republic (outside capital city of Bangui) – Chad – Eritrea – Georgia (South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions and adjacent areas and roads to these regions) – Haiti – Kenya (Somali border areas northeast of the town of Wajir) – Lebanon – Madagascar – Nepal (outside Kathmandu Valley) – Nigeria (states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo and Rivers) – Pakistan – Saudi Arabia –Sudan – Yemen2

C. Moderate Travel Warning

This applies to countries or areas where either of the following conditions apply:

• Full services are available at US embassies or consulates but US citizens are urged to delay all but essential travel based on specific events/risks.

• DoS, CDC and/or WHO find there is a serious health risk and urge delay in all but essential travel but do not find inadequate health care.

Countries or areas currently given a moderate travel warning are:

Algeria 3– Central African Republic (other than areas with a High travel warning) – Colombia4 – Democratic Republic of the Congo – Georgia (other than areas with High travel warning) – Israel (other than the areas with a Highest travel warning)5 – Ivory Coast – Kenya (other than areas with High travel warning) – Mexico – Nepal (within Kathmandu Valley) – Nigeria (other than areas with High travel warning) – Philippines (other than areas with High travel warning) – Sri Lanka – Syria – Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor) – Uzbekistan6

D. Travel Embargoes

The following countries are subject to travel and other restrictions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or other U.S. authorities:

Balkans – Belarus – Congo – Cote d’Ivoire – Cuba – Iran – Iraq – Liberia – North Korea – Sudan – Syria – Zimbabwe

MIT Travel and Emergency web sites will update the list of countries by Travel Risk Category on approximately a weekly basis. Members of the MIT community are urged to check the DoS, CDC, WHO, and OFAC web pages for more current information.

IV. Travel Policies for Travel on MIT Business

Twenty-four hour travel assistance services are available to all MIT travelers (International SOS). Please refer to MIT Insurance for additional information.

A. DoS Public Announcements and/or General CDC/WHO Advice (without advice to not travel):

No restrictions apply to these locales. MIT makes available links to DoS, CDC and WHO travel advisories and posts guidance on travel and emergency web sites. MIT may offer 24/7 emergency travel service for individuals who register with the MIT Travel Office before departing.

B. Moderate Travel Warning:

1. MIT urges all members of the MIT community to heed DoS/ CDC/ WHO Travel Warnings and not to travel to these locales, but faculty, staff and students are free to make their own informed decisions.
   
   
2. No one may be required or coerced to travel (e.g., by a faculty member, supervisor or advisor).
   
   
3. All members of the MIT community who decide to travel anyway must sign MIT’s travel form before departure, acknowledging the risk and personal responsibility for their decision to travel.
   
   
4. All students must also agree not to travel to or through any areas where DoS personnel are required or authorized to leave. They must also agree not to travel to or through areas where MIT Travel Insurance coverage or adequate medical care is not available and to not use modes of transportation that DoS personnel or their families are prohibited to use.
   
   
5. Undergraduate students’ parents or guardians must also sign the MIT travel form (to confirm discussion of risks; and if the student is under 18, parents or guardians sign to provide consent).

C. High or Highest Travel Warning:

1. MIT strongly urges MIT faculty, staff and students to fully understand the risks and to not travel to High and Highest Travel Warning locales. This includes places where there is a serious health risk and inadequate medical care and places where MIT’s Travel Insurance coverage is unavailable.
   
   
2. No one may be required or coerced (e.g., by a faculty member, supervisor, or advisor) to travel to these areas.
   
   
3. Unless a waiver is granted in a specific case (as described in IV.E below) MIT will not approve or financially support (through any MIT account) travel by any student to High and Highest Travel Warning locales. If a waiver is granted, the student must sign the Student Travel form before departure and submit a copy to the MIT Insurance Office.
   
   
4. If faculty or staff members travel despite MIT’s urging not to do so, they must sign MIT’s travel form before departure, and they must not take (or enable) any students or staff subordinates to travel to these areas.

D. Travel Embargoes:

1. U.S. law may prohibit or restrict travel to embargoed countries, whether the trip is on MIT business or for personal reasons.
   
   
2. Anyone who seeks to travel to embargoed locales must contact the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) before making travel plans or transferring any item or information in any medium to any individual or entity (whether a U.S. citizen or not) in embargoed countries. OSP will help determine whether travel to these countries is banned or whether a license is required or any other restrictions apply under OFAC’s regulations.

E. Waivers of Policy Available in Extraordinary Circumstances

Where the categorization of travel risk is unclear, or extraordinary circumstances may warrant a waiver of MIT’s travel policy, the following decision-makers are responsible for granting waivers:

1. Faculty and Academic Staff: Provost, with recommendation from the Vice President for Research/Associate Provost or the applicable School Dean.
   
   
2. Students: Chancellor, with recommendation from the Dean for Undergraduate Education, the Dean for Student Life, or the Dean of Graduate Students, conferring with the Dean of the applicable School.
   
   
3. Administrative Staff: Executive Vice President, with recommendation from the Vice President for Human Resources.

The Office of the General Counsel is available to serve in an advisory role to all of the above. Members of the MIT Medical Department may also advise.

F. Additional Information

Please refer to MIT’s emergency and travel web sites (listed below) for information about planning for travel, the risks of travel, and ways to avoid or better handle emergencies. Information on these issues, as well as on where to find out more about availability and access to your regular medical benefits, regular life insurance, and Travel Insurance, with links to relevant web sites, are available in the memorandum, “Important Information on Foreign Travel,” which is posted on MIT’s emergency and travel web sites.

Other references and resources regarding travel include the following:

1. CDC web site: http://www.cdc.gov
2. DoS web site: http://travel.state.gov/
3. WHO web site: http://www.who.int/
4. OFAC web site: http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/eotffc/ofac
5. Quarantinable Communicable Disease Information: Amended Executive Order 13295 Relating to Certain Influenza Viruses and Quarantinable Communicable Diseases; Revised list of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases; and, Question and Answers :
   http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050401-6.html
   http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/executiveorder040403.htm
   http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/qa_influenza_amendment_to_eo_13295.htm
   
6. MIT Benefits Office: http://hrweb.mit.edu/benefits/index.html or 617-253-0500
7. MIT Emergency web site: http://web.mit.edu/emergency
8. MIT Insurance Office: 617-253-2823 or http://controllers.mit.edu/insurance
9. MIT Medical Health Plan: http://web.mit.edu/medical/p-main.html or 617-253-1322 (faculty/staff) or 617-253-4371 (students)
10. MIT Police 24/7 Emergency: 617-253-1212
11. MIT Sponsored Research Office: 617-253-2492 (Re: travel embargoes, export controls, and sponsor restrictions)
12. MIT Travel Office: http://web.mit.edu/travel or 617-253-3547
13. MIT Medical: http://web.mit.edu/medical or 617-253-4481
14. MIT Office of the General Counsel: http://web.mit.edu/ogc or 617-452-2082

FOOTNOTES

1. 1. The Old City of Jerusalem is under Highest warning after dark during the entire week and between the hours of 11 am and 2 pm on Fridays.

   2. Travel by boat through the Red Sea or near the Socotra Islands in the Gulf of Aden presents risk of pirate attacks. See the International Maritime Piracy Fact Sheet at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/piracy/piracy_4420.html.
      

   3. The U.S. Department of State recommends that American citizens avoid overland travel in Algeria, and take particular precautions within the City of Algiers. Travel restrictions on U.S. Embassy personnel also limit, and at times may prevent, the provision of consular services.
      

   4. U.S. Government officials and their families in Colombia are permitted to travel to major cities in the country, but only by air. They are not allowed to use inter- or intra-city bus transportation. They also are not permitted to travel by road outside of urban areas at night. All Americans in Colombia are urged to follow these precautions.
      

   5. Travelers should heed warnings by the Department of State and U.S. Embassy regarding locations and activities of particular risk. The Department of State notes that American citizens are urged to exercise a high degree of caution and common sense when patronizing restaurants, cafes, malls, places of worship, and theaters, especially during peak hours. Large crowds and public gatherings should be avoided to the extent possible, and personnel should be alert to street vendors who sometimes aggressively harass tourists. Travelers to Israel, the West Bank or Gaza should use the specific MIT travel form for these areas due to particular risks.

   6. Visas are difficult to obtain and are often valid for very limited duration, the Peace Corp is no longer allowed to operate there and US military presence in the country has ended. Also, the Uzbek government maintains travel restrictions on large parts of the Surkhandarya province bordering Afghanistan including city of Termez and American citizens traveling to this region have to get a special permission card from the ministry of foreign affairs.