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The CDC has released a series of three early release MMWRs today on the Ebola outbreak in Africa. One on the ongoing outbreak in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, while the other two concentrate on the rapid responses to Nigeria’s and Senegal’s imported cases.
Below you’ll find links, and the CDC’s capsule descriptions for each document.
MMWR Early Release
Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak — West Africa, September 2014
Incident Management System Ebola Epidemiology Team, CDC; Ministries of Health of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Nigeria, and Senegal; Viral Special Pathogens Branch, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC.
MMWR 2014;63(Early Release):1-2
Updated data on the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa indicate that, as of September 23, a total of 6,574 cases had been reported from five West Africa countries (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone). The highest reported case counts were from Liberia (3,458 cases), Sierra Leone (2,021), and Guinea (1,074).
Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak — Nigeria, July–September 2014
Faisal Shuaib, DrPH, Rajni Gunnala, MD, Emmanuel O. Musa, MBBS, et al.
MMWR 2014;63(Early Release):1-6
On July 20, an acutely ill traveler from Liberia arrived at the international airport in Lagos, Nigeria, and was confirmed to have Ebola virus disease after being admitted to a private hospital. The Federal Ministry of Health, with the Lagos State government and international partners, activated an Ebola Incident Management Center as a precursor to the current Emergency Operations Center to rapidly respond to this outbreak. The index patient died on July 25; as of September 24, there were 19 laboratory-confirmed Ebola cases and one probable case in two states, with 894 contacts identified and followed during the response.
Importation and Containment of Ebola Virus Disease — Senegal, August–September 2014
Kelsey Mirkovic, PhD, Julie Thwing, MD, Papa Amadou Diack, MD.
MMWR 2014;63(Early Release):1-2
On August 29, 2014, Senegal confirmed its first case of Ebola virus disease in a Guinean man, aged 21 years, who had traveled from Guinea to Dakar, Senegal, in mid-August to visit family. Senegalese medical and public health personnel were alerted about this patient after public health staff in Guinea contacted his family in Senegal on August 27. This report describes the investigation and containment measures that followed.
The CDC has also published a the following statement, summarizing what (for now, at least) appears to have been a successful containment campaign in Senegal and Nigeria.
Ebola outbreak is nearing possible end in Nigeria
Strong emergency operations center, polio eradication experience keys to success
The Ebola outbreak in Nigeria appears to be nearing a possible end thanks to a rapid response coordinated by Nigeria’s Emergency Operations Center with assistance from international partners, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The official end to an Ebola outbreak comes when two of the 21-day incubation periods for Ebola virus have elapsed without any new cases.
During the outbreak there were 19 laboratory-confirmed and one probable Ebola cases in two Nigerian states. Nearly 900 patient contacts were identified and followed; all but three have completed 21 days of follow-up without Ebola symptoms. There have been no new cases since August 31 and the last three patient contacts will exit their 21-day follow-up on October 2 – strongly suggesting the outbreak in Nigeria has been contained. A report on Nigeria’s response to the outbreak appears in a Sept. 30 early release issue of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
"Although Nigeria isn’t completely out of the woods, their extensive response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with rapid, focused interventions,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D, M.P.H. “Countries throughout the region as well as Nigeria need to take rapid steps to prepare for possible cases of Ebola in order to prevent outbreaks in their country.”
Given the gravity of the situation in the three hardest hit nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone the apparent successful containment of Ebola in Nigeria and Senegal provides some welcome good news.
