CDC: HAN 364: Guidelines for Evaluation of US Patients Suspected of Having Ebola Virus Disease

HAN 364 is now available at http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00364.asp

 

                                               This an official

CDC HEALTH ADVISORY

Distributed via the CDC Health Alert Network
August 1, 2014 20:00 ET (8:00 PM ET)
CDCHAN-00364

Summary

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.

Background

CDC is working with the World Health Organization (WHO), the ministries of health of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and other international organizations in response to an outbreak of EVD in West Africa, which was first reported in late March 2014. As of July 27, 2014, according to WHO, a total of 1,323 cases and 729 deaths (case fatality 55-60%) had been reported across the three affected countries. This is the largest outbreak of EVD ever documented and the first recorded in West Africa.

EVD is characterized by sudden onset of fever and malaise, accompanied by other nonspecific signs and symptoms, such as myalgia, headache, vomiting, and diarrhea. Patients with severe forms of the disease may develop hemorrhagic symptoms and multi-organ dysfunction, including hepatic damage, renal failure, and central nervous system involvement, leading to shock and death.

The fatality rate can vary from 40-90%.

In outbreak settings, Ebola virus is typically first spread to humans after contact with infected wildlife and is then spread person-to-person through direct contact with bodily fluids such as, but not limited to, blood, urine, sweat, semen, and breast milk. The incubation period is usually 8–10 days (ranges from 2–21 days). Patients can transmit the virus while febrile and through later stages of disease, as well as postmortem, when persons touch the body during funeral preparations.

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