Blog: Ebola: Facts and Fiction
Statement
With the confirmation of a diagnosed Ebola case in Dallas, TX many of my constituents have expressed concerns about the situation and possible threats the US may face. It is important to understand how Ebola is spread, precautions you can take, and the ongoing efforts that the United States is taking to stem the spread of this disease.
ABOUT EBOLA:
Unlike many viral diseases, such as the common cold, Ebola is not easily transmissible. Ebola is spread from person to person only by direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes such eyes, nose, or mouth) with the blood or bodily fluids of a patient experiencing symptoms. The early symptoms include high fever (higher than 101.5°F), severe headache, muscle pain,and weakness. Patients with advanced infections may also experience diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain,and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days according to the CDC. Healthcare providers in the Rochester area have been monitoring the situation and have prepared a brief Q&A.
PREVENTING INFECTION:
Health experts stress the potential for spread of Ebola in the United States is very low. The best precaution is to avoid travel to the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. All of the patients who have been treated for Ebola in the US so far became infected in those countries. It is important to remember that these are developing countries whose limited resources became overwhelmed. More developed countries with advanced infrastructure in the region, such as Nigeria, have had success in containing the disease.
ONGOING EFFORTS in AFRICA and the U.S.:
Several US government agencies are involved in fighting the outbreak. USAID has activated a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) with members in Liberia and Guinea to coordinate the interagency response. Nine treatment centers are currently operating in West Africa with an additional ten under construction. Four additional labs have been set up since August 15th to augment the three which already existed in the region while two more are in the works. Medical professionals who may wish to volunteer to work in West Africa should contact USAID.
The CDC is staffing the public health and response positions on the DART as well as activating its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to provide technical assistance and support the healthcare response including outbreak surveillance, testing and education. In addition they are working with the affected country governments, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the airlines to develop and implement entry and exit screening procedures for travelers. Because there are very few direct flights from West Africa to the US,most passengers will change flights elsewhere,complicating screening travelers who may have been exposed to Ebola.
According to the White House, among the specific response efforts, the United States has:
International Response:
+ "Deployed to West Africa more than 130 civilian medical, healthcare, and disaster response experts from multiple U.S. government departments and agencies as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) Disaster Assistance Response Team as well as approximately 350 U.S. military personnel, constituting the largest U.S. response to an international public health challenge;
+ Increased the number of Ebola treatment units (ETU) in the region, including supporting ETUs in Sierra Leone and Liberia, and one of our new ETUs in Liberia discharged its first four Ebola survivors last week;
+ Increased to 50 the number of safe burial teams, which are now working across every county in Liberia to safely and respectfully dispose of bodies;
+ Deployed and commenced operation of five mobile Ebola testing labs in the region, two of which opened this week in Liberia and have doubled lab capacity in the country--reducing from several days to just a few hours the time needed to determine if a patient has Ebola;
+ Provided more than 10,000 Ebola test kits to the Liberian Institute of Biological Research and Sierra Leone's Kenema Government Hospital;
+ Received and passed to interested humanitarian organizations information from nearly 2,200 volunteers willing to provide healthcare in the affected countries;
+ Procured 140,000 sets of personal protective equipment, 10,000 of which have already been delivered, along with hundreds of thousands of medical gloves and thousands of protective coveralls, goggles, face shields, and other personal protective supplies;
+ Delivered an initial 9,000 of 50,000 community care kits to Liberia;
+ Supported aggressive public education campaigns reaching every Liberian county with life-saving information on how to identify, treat and prevent Ebola;
In the days and weeks to come, U.S. efforts will include:
+ Scaling-up the Department of Defense presence in West Africa. Following the completion of AFRICOM's assessment, DoD announced the planned deployment of 3,200 troops, including 700 from the 101st Airborne Division headquarters element to Liberia. These forces will deploy in late October and become the headquarters staff for the Joint Forces Command, led by Major General Gary Volesky. The total U.S. troop commitment will depend on the requirements on the ground;
+ Overseeing the construction of and facilitating staffing for at least 17 100-bed Ebola treatment units across Liberia;
+ Deploying additional U.S. military personnel from various engineering units to help supervise the construction of ETUs and provide engineering expertise for the international response in Liberia;
+ Establishing a training site in Liberia to train up to 500 health care providers per week, enabling them to provide safe and direct supportive medical care to Ebola patients;
+ Setting up and facilitating staffing for a hospital in Liberia that will treat all healthcare workers who are working in West Africa on the Ebola crisis should they fall ill;
+ Operating a training course in the United States for licensed nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers intending to work in an ETU in West Africa;
+ Leveraging a regional staging base in Senegal to help expedite the surge of equipment, supplies, and personnel to West Africa;
+ Continuing outreach by all levels of the U.S. government to push for increased and speedier response contributions from partners around the globe; and,
+ Sustaining engagement with the UN system to coordinate response and improve effectiveness.
Domestic Response
We have been prepared for an Ebola case in the United States and have the healthcare system infrastructure in place to respond safely and effectively. Upon confirming the Ebola diagnosis, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and our interagency team activated plans that had been developed.
Our public health officials have led the charge to prepare and fortify our national health infrastructure to respond quickly and effectively to Ebola cases domestically. Their efforts include:
+ Enhancing surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in states to detect cases; in the last three months, 12 Laboratory Response Network labs have been validated to perform Ebola diagnostic testing throughout the United States;
+ Authorizing the use of a diagnostic test developed by DoD to help detect the Ebola virus.
+ Providing guidance and tools for hospitals and health care providers to prepare for and manage potential patients, protect healthcare workers, and respond in a coordinated fashion;
+ Developing guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations;
+ Providing recommendations for healthcare infection control and other measures to prevent disease spread;
+ Disseminating guidance for flight crews, Emergency Medical Services units at airports, and Customs and Border Protection officers about reporting ill travelers to CDC;
+ Providing up-to-date information to the general public, international travelers, healthcare providers, state and local officials, and public health partners;
+ Advancing the development and clinical trials of Ebola vaccines and antivirals to determine their safety and efficacy in humans;
+ Monitoring by the Food and Drug Administration for fraudulent products and false product claims related to the Ebola virus and implementing enforcement actions, as warranted, to protect the public health; and,
+ Issuing by the U.S. Department of Transportation, in coordination with CDC, an emergency special permit for a company to transport large quantities of Ebola-contaminated waste from Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas as well as from other locations in Texas for disposal."
ASSURANCES:
The current outbreak of Ebola is unprecedented and illustrates how a lack of treatment options can lead to a public health crisis. Preventing these disasters requires a strong healthcare infrastructure,which includes robust support for basic research funding to understand emerging diseases and development of new treatments. Recent budget cuts, including sequestration and the government shutdown, have deprived the NIH and CDC of the funds they need to combat deadly diseases such as Ebola. Continued support for health research and education is imperative to prevent future outbreaks, whether caused by a new strain of a known virus, a currently unknown disease,or the emergence of an antibiotic resistant superbug.
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