• Francis Kateh, Thomas Nagbe, Abraham Kieta, Albert Barskey, Alex Ntale Gasasira, Anne Driscoll, Anthony Tucker, Athalia Christie, Ben Karmo, Colleen Scott, Collin Bowah, Danielle Barradas, David Blackley, Emmanuel Dweh, Felicia Warren, Frank Mahoney, Gabriel Kassay, Geoffrey M Calvert, Georgina Castro, Gorbee Logan, Grace Appiah, Hannah Kirking, Hawa Koon, Heather Papowitz, Henry Walke, Isaac B Cole, Joel Montgomery, John Neatherlin, Jordan W Tappero, Jose E Hagan, Joseph Forrester, Joseph Woodring, Joshua Mott, Kathleen Attfield, Kevin DeCock, Kim A Lindblade, Krista Powell, Kristin Yeoman, Laura Adams, Laura N Broyles, Laurence Slutsker, Lawrence Larway, Lisa Belcher, Lorraine Cooper, Marjorie Santos, Matthew Westercamp, Meghan Pearce Weinberg, Mehran Massoudi, Monica Dea, Monita Patel, Morgan Hennessey, Moses Fomba, Mutaawe Lubogo, Nikki Maxwell, Patrick Moonan, Sampson Arzoaquoi, Samuel Gee, Samuel Zayzay, Satish Pillai, Seymour Williams, Shauna Mettee Zarecki, Sheldon Yett, Stephen James, Steven Grube, Sundeep Gupta, Thelma Nelson, Theophil Malibiche, Wilmont Frank, Wilmot Smith, Tolbert Nyenswah, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
• MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 2015 Feb 27;64(7):188-92.

AbstractWest Africa is experiencing its first epidemic of Ebola virus disease (Ebola). As of February 9, Liberia has reported 8,864 Ebola cases, of which 3,147 were laboratory-confirmed. Beginning in August 2014, the Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), supported by CDC, the World Health Organization (WHO), and others, began systematically investigating and responding to Ebola outbreaks in remote areas. Because many of these areas lacked mobile telephone service, easy road access, and basic infrastructure, flexible and targeted interventions often were required. Development of a national strategy for the Rapid Isolation and Treatment of Ebola (RITE) began in early October. The strategy focuses on enhancing capacity of county health teams (CHT) to investigate outbreaks in remote areas and lead tailored responses through effective and efficient coordination of technical and operational assistance from the MOHSW central level and international partners. To measure improvements in response indicators and outcomes over time, data from investigations of 12 of 15 outbreaks in remote areas with illness onset dates of index cases during July 16-November 20, 2014, were analyzed. The times to initial outbreak alerts and durations of the outbreaks declined over that period while the proportions of patients who were isolated and treated increased. At the same time, the case-fatality rate in each outbreak declined. Implementation of strategies, such as RITE, to rapidly respond to rural outbreaks of Ebola through coordinated and tailored responses can successfully reduce transmission and improve outcomes.

26 keywords...

hide…