As travel continues between West Africa and the rest of the
world, the possibility increases that more individuals exposed to
Ebola will seek care at hospital emergency departments. It is
also possible that more medical and other volunteers caring for
Ebola patients will contract the disease and need treatment in
U.S. hospitals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness
and Response have been anticipating and preparing for Ebola in
the U.S. Both agencies aim to increase understanding of the Ebola
virus disease (EVD) and encourage widespread preparation for
managing EVD patients.
Additional information and resources that may be of value
to international/local organizations and individuals
providing Ebola outbreak-related services in West Africa, as well
as friends and family of people in the affected region, are
available at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Disaster
Information Management Research Center’s Ebola
Outbreak 2014: Information Resources
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
modified protocols for travelers from Liberia to the United
States, stipulating that those currently under active or direct
active monitoring for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) by local health
departments (LHDs) no longer need monitoring. For California, the
protocol for Liberian travelers is spelled out in the attached
updated guidance from the California Department of Public Health
(CDPHi).
December 2014 - On the outskirts of Monrovia, the capital of
Liberia, on grassy land among palm trees and tropical hardwoods,
stands a cluster of one-story bungalows painted cheerful yellow
with blue trim. This is the campus of Eternal Love Winning
Africa, a nondenominational Christian mission, comprising a
school, a radio station and a hospital. It was here that Dr.
Jerry Brown, the hospital’s medical director, first heard in
March that the fearsome Ebola virus had gained a toehold in his
country.
