CDC - COCA Clinical Reminder on Ebola Outbreak in West Africa – Twitter Chat on August 8, 2014

Please note: Many of these dates have passed, but the information provided at the links is
valuable if you have not received this already. Thank you.  

In response to the 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa Outbreak, we would like to provide you with the following information. If you have any questions on these or other clinical issues, please write to us at coca@cdc.gov 


A.    CDC Twitter Chat: What U.S. Healthcare Facilities Need to Know to Prepare for Ebola Virus Disease

The recent Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa has increased the need for U.S. healthcare facilities to be prepared to handle potential patients with Ebola virus disease.  Additionally, two American citizens with Ebola virus disease have been medically   evacuated to the United States to receive care in a U.S. hospital.  During this Twitter chat, CDC will answer clinicians’ questions on what steps U.S. healthcare facilities can take to prepare for the possibility of caring for a patient with Ebola virus disease.

    Date: Friday, August 8, 2014
    Time: 2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)
    Tweet with: CDC Ebola Response Experts
    How to Participate: Follow @CDCgov on Twitter and use hashtag #CDCchat
    For more information visit: https://twitter.com/CDCgov

B.    Recent COCA Call: What U.S. Hospitals Need to Know to Prepare for Ebola Virus Disease
During this COCA Call, CDC provided updates on the status of the outbreak in West Africa and guidance on what steps U.S. healthcare facilities can take to prepare for the possibility of caring for a patient with Ebola virus disease..
    Date: Tuesday, August 5, 2014
    Access recorded call audio and transcript:  
    http://emergency.cdc.gov/coca/calls/2014/callinfo_080514.asp

C.   Clinician Resources
Case Definition for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) – Aug 7
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/case‐definition.html

Interim Guidance for Monitoring and Movement of Persons with Ebola Virus Disease Exposure –  Aug 7
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/monitoring‐and‐movement‐of‐persons‐with‐exposure.html

Interim Guidance for Specimen Collection, Transport, Testing, and Submission for Patients with
Suspected Infection with Ebola Virus Disease – Aug 6
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/interim‐guidance‐specimen‐collection‐submission‐patients‐suspected‐
infection‐ebola.html

Frequently Asked Questions: Safe Management of Patients with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in   U.S.
Hospitals – Aug 6
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/patient‐management‐us‐hospitals.html

Updated: Interim Guidance about Ebola Virus Infection for Airline Flight Crews, Cleaning  Personnel, and
Cargo Personnel – Aug 2
http://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/air/managing‐sick‐travelers/ebola‐guidance‐airlines.html

Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients with Known or
Suspected Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever in U.S. Hospitals – Aug 1
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/infection‐prevention‐and‐control‐recommendations.html

D.   Health Alert Network
Health Advisory: Guidelines for Evaluation of US Patients Suspected of Having Ebola Virus Disease – Aug
1
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to work closely with the World Health
Organization (WHO) and other partners to better understand and manage the public health risks posed by Ebola
Virus Disease (EVD). To date, no cases have been reported in the United States. The purpose of this health update
is 1) to provide updated guidance to healthcare providers and state and local health departments regarding who
should be suspected of having EVD, 2) to clarify which specimens should be obtained and how to submit for
diagnostic testing, and 3) to provide hospital infection control guidelines. U.S. hospitals can safely manage a
patient with EVD by following recommended isolation and infection control procedures. Please disseminate this
information to infectious disease specialists, intensive care physicians, primary care physicians, hospital
epidemiologists, infection control professionals, and hospital administration, as well as to emergency departments
and microbiology laboratories.
http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00364.asp


Health Advisory: Ebola Virus Disease Confirmed in a Traveler to Nigeria, Two U.S. Healthcare Workers in
Liberia – Jul 28
Nigerian health authorities have confirmed a diagnosis of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in a patient who died on Friday
in a hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, after traveling from Liberia on July 20, 2014. The report marks the first Ebola case in
Nigeria linked to the current outbreak in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Health
authorities also reported this weekend that two U.S. citizens working in a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia, have
confirmed Ebola virus infection. These recent cases, together with the continued increase in the number of Ebola
cases in West Africa, underscore the potential for travel‐associated spread of the disease and the risks of EVD to
healthcare workers. While the possibility of infected persons entering the U.S. remains low, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises that healthcare providers in the U.S. should consider EVD in the
differential diagnosis of febrile illness, with compatible symptoms, in any person with recent (within 21 days) travel
history in the affected countries and consider isolation of those patients meeting these criteria, pending diagnostic
testing.
http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00363.asp

E.    Clinical Articles

Korteper, M.G., Bausch, D.G., & Bray, M. (2011). Basic clinical and laboratory features of filoviral
hemorrhagic fever.  J Infect Dis. 204 Suppl 3: S810‐6. doi:
10.1093/infdis/jir299.<http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/204/suppl_3/S810.long>

Kotlyar, S & Rice, B.T. (2013). Fever in the returning traveler.  Emerg Med Clin North Am. 31(4). pp 927‐44.
doi: 10.1016/j.emc.2013.07.001.<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0733862713000679>
Richards, G.A., Murphy, S. Jobson, R., et al. (2000). Unexpected Ebola virus in a tertiary setting: Clinical
and epidemiological aspects. Crit Care Med. 28(1). pp 240‐
244.<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Unexpected+Ebola+virus+in+a+tertiary+setting%3A+Clinical+a
nd+epidmioloical+aspects>
On behalf of the Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA)
Joint Information Center (JIC)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention