Surveillance and preparedness for Ebola virus disease -- New York City, 2014

Abstract

In July 2014, as the Ebola virus disease (Ebola) epidemic expanded in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, an air traveler brought Ebola to Nigeria and two American health care workers in West Africa were diagnosed with Ebola and later medically evacuated to a U.S. hospital. New York City (NYC) is a frequent port of entry for travelers from West Africa, a home to communities of West African immigrants who travel back to their home countries, and a home to health care workers who travel to West Africa to treat Ebola patients. Ongoing transmission of Ebolavirus in West Africa could result in an infected person arriving in NYC. The announcement on September 30 of an Ebola case diagnosed in Texas in a person who had recently arrived from an Ebola-affected country further reinforced the need in NYC for local preparedness for Ebola.

FIGURE

Ebola virus disease (Ebola) evaluation algorithm — New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), September 3, 2014 Abbreviations: AST = aspartate aminotransferase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase. * The current list of affected areas is available at http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/distribution-map.html. ^† On October 9, DOHMH revised its reporting criteria to include fever or other compatible symptoms. ^§ In the CDC algorithm, health care workers using appropriate PPE in facilities with Ebola patients are classified as having no known exposure, but, according to DOHMH guidance, if they develop fever and compatible symptoms in the 21 days after residence in or travel to an Ebola-affected area, they are considered to have had low-risk exposure.