The country is trying to contain fears about the Ebola virus. Lawmakers all have their own opinions on how to keep the disease from the homeland.

There are screening processes at a handful of American airports right now for passengers arriving from Ebola-hit countries of West Africa.

U.S. Representative Darrell Issa is critical of current screening measures, saying that the screenings aren’t enough. He referenced Thomas Eric Duncan, the first patient diagnosed in the United States. Issa claimed:

    “We had Mr. Duncan come in (to the United States) with an elevated temperature. We weren’t checking it, and now we’re playing catch-up.”

PolitiFact rated the claim for its truthfulness. PolitiFact writer Joshua Gillin said the claim rates FALSE. According to Gillin, the facts don’t back Issa up.

“It doesn't look like any screening measures, even if they were in place, would have found anything wrong,” Gillin said. “He didn't seem to be presenting those symptoms.”

Duncan did go through a screening before leaving Liberia. According to the report of his exit screening, Duncan had a normal temperature of 97.3 degrees when he boarded the flight. There’s no way of knowing what Duncan’s temperature was when he arrived at Dulles International Airport in Washington.

Duncan went to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas several days later. When he went to the hospital, he had a 100.1 temperature. According to the National Institutes of Health, a fever starts at a body temperature of 100.4 degrees.

Duncan was first discharged and returned to the hospital a second time. He died there about ten days later.

Since current screening measures were not in place at the time Duncan arrived, there’s no way of knowing what his temperature was when he landed. But it’s possible that Duncan still would have passed. Because of those facts, PolitiFact rated the claim FALSE.

SOURCES: EBOLA SCREENINGS IN THE U.S.