Ever since an Ebola case from Liberia arrived at a Dallas hospital last month, political pressure has been building on the Obama administration to restrict travel from the three West African countries where the disease has spread with frightening speed.

On Tuesday, the White House responded by tightening the restrictions it had put in place, announcing it would funnel travelers from those nations to five airports in the United States where nearly all of them already arrive.

The measure appeared designed to defend against criticism from Republicans over the administration’s response to the Ebola threat, and it highlighted the political back and forth that the virus has triggered just two weeks before the midterm election.

Starting Wednesday, airline passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea must fly into one of five airports that already receive about 94% of the 150 or so travelers who come to the U.S. each day from those three countries, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said.

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