80 percent of Americans support Ebola quarantines for everyone returning from West Africa

80 percent of Americans support Ebola quarantines for everyone returning from West Africa
(Image credit: Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

That finding comes from a CBS News poll released Wednesday morning as lawmakers and health officials continued to debate the effectiveness of mandatory quarantines. In the survey, 80 percent said all American citizens returning from Ebola-striken countries should be placed under quarantine, while 17 percent said only those showing symptoms should be isolated.

The federal government and many health experts argue that such quarantines are counterproductive because they discourage aid workers from traveling abroad to address the crisis at its source. Yet New Jersey and New York have nonetheless imposed quarantine policies, with Gov. Chris Christie (R) saying the feds are only disagreeing because "they don't want to admit that we were right and they were wrong."

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.