Ebola: Responding to the Health Crisis

Ebola: Responding to the Health Crisis

OVERVIEW

The 2014 Ebola outbreak is the largest in history and the first Ebola epidemic the world has ever known—affecting multiple countries in West Africa. On September 30, 2014, CDC confirmed, the first travel-associated case of Ebola to be diagnosed in the United States. CDC and partners are taking precautions to prevent spread of Ebola within the United States. CDC is working with other U.S. government agencies, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other domestic and international partners and has activated its Emergency Operations Center to help coordinate technical assistance and control activities with partners. CDC has also deployed teams of public health experts to West Africa and will continue to send experts to the affected countries.

PREVENTION

If you travel to or are in an area affected by an Ebola outbreak, make sure to do the following:

  • Practice careful hygiene. Avoid contact with blood and body fluids.
  • Do not handle items that may have come in contact with an infected person’s blood or body fluids.
  • Avoid funeral or burial rituals that require handling the body of someone who has died from Ebola.
  • Avoid contact with bats and nonhuman primates or blood, fluids, and raw meat prepared from these animals.
  • Avoid hospitals where Ebola patients are being treated. The U.S. embassy or consulate is often able to provide advice on facilities.
  • After you return, monitor your health for 21 days and seek medical care immediately if you develop symptoms of Ebola
The video (below) describes contact tracing, a method used by CDC and partners to identify new Ebola cases quickly and isolate patients as soon as they show symptoms, preventing spread to others.



Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention