Dive Brief:
- On Monday, federal and local public health officials announced they would like each state to have dedicated Ebola hospitals in case there are more cases identified in the United States.
- The CDC's shift in strategy comes after a nurse caring for an Ebola-infected patient in Dallas was, somehow, exposed to the virus and diagnosed as infected.
- Officials say they are also considering modifying current infection control protocols and plan to ramp up training for health workers through phone sessions and web seminars.
Dive Insight:
CDC officials stressed the urgency of modifying the current Ebola response after the first transmission of the virus within the United States stoked public fears of the possibility of an outbreak. “We’d like to have at least one hospital in every state that does feel they could manage a patient from start to finish,” said the CDC's Abbigail Tumpey in a call with reporters. “We have to rethink the way we address Ebola infection control," added CDC director Tom Frieden. "Even a single infection is unacceptable.”
As Bloomberg notes, the modified response plan is still in its infancy and faces several significant hurdles, including the fact that there are a mere four hospitals in America with the most secure level of bio-containment units.