CDC Ebola Press Briefing: Transcript & Audio

Credit CDC

 

 

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Yesterday’s dual press conferences (see CDC & WHO Press Briefings On Ebola) will be augmented later this morning by a briefing from a High Level UN delegation (Chan, Fukuda, and Nabarro) in Washington D.C.. 

 

While we wait on today’s developments the CDC has published the audio and transcript of yesterday’s briefing, along with a press release summarizing Dr. Thomas Frieden’s comments.

 

 

Press Briefing Transcript

CDC Telebriefing on the Update on Ebola outbreak in West Africa

Tuesday, September 2, 2014, 12:00 p.m. ET

• Audio recording  [MP3, 9.15 MB]

 

 

 

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Contact: CDC Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

CDC warns Ebola epidemic in West Africa is outpacing current response

CDC Director highlights US government response; calls for vastly increased and accelerated international response in West Africa

CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. reported on his visits last week to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and called for immediate steps across nations to accelerate response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Dr. Frieden described a daunting situation and called for speed, flexibility and work on the front lines to take precedence.

The United States has stepped up assistance to the affected countries and to international organizations responding to the outbreak. Multiple U.S. agencies have been involved in the response to the crisis, including the State Department, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Department of Defense (DOD).

Since the CDC ramped up its Ebola response in early July, more than 500 CDC staff members have provided logistics, staffing, communication, analytics, management, and other support functions. As of September 2, roughly 100 U.S. government personnel have been deployed and are working in the affected countries responding to the outbreak, this includes more than 70 CDC staff deployed in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone assisting with various vital response efforts such as surveillance, contact tracing, database management, and health education.

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CDC MERS Telebriefing Transcript & Audio

Photo Credit NIAID

 

 

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Yesterdays’ announcement by the CDC: New Tests Reveal Illinois `MERS’ Case Was Never Infected came via a 30 minute telebriefing conducted by Dr. David Swerdlow and Dr. Mark Pallansch. 

 

Although many of the high points were covered in yesterday’s press release, the transcript & audio below also contain the reporter’s Q&A session, some of which include  criticisms on how the initial findings were released.

While no one wants to see incorrect information go out, the CDC was really caught in a catch-22 here.

 

Had they tried to keep a lid on their Illinois contact investigation until the third, and final, test results were in (a matter of several more days), the odds are someone would have posted on Twitter or Facebook they (or a family member, or neighbor) had been `contacted public health authorities, asked for a sample, and  told to stay home’ .

 

In this age of tablets and cell phones, within a matter of a few hours that choice tidbit would have gone viral, and the CDC would have been left looking like it was hiding something.

 

The next time this happens (and the odds say, it probably will), I suspect  the CDC will stress the `preliminary nature of the test results’ and perhaps call such cases `probable or suspected’  rather than confirmed.  

 

But still . . .  telling the public what they reasonably think they know, when they know it, is just about always going to be the right call. 

 

Even if it requires correction or modification downstream. 

 

 

Press Briefing Transcript

CDC Telebriefing – CDC concludes Indiana MERS patient did not spread virus to Illinois business associate

Wednesday, May 28, 2014 1:00 p.m. ET

• Audio recording  [MP3, 5.93 MB]

 

 

 

For more, Dr. Ian Mackay has penned a blog on this turn of events, which you can read at:

 

MERS-CoV did not just transmit via 2 meetings and a handshake...the retraction [UPDATED with CDC Press Release]

There must be a couple of internally relieved people around the US CDC today. Relieved. Why? Because they have got off their chest something they must have had a growing inkling about for at least a few days now. That being the news result that the Illinois 3rd US case was in fact not infected by MERS-CoV via a handshake and 2 meetings, 1 lasting 40min.

So that didn't happen.

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