CDC mobilizes Ebola response amid reports Americans abroad affected
by Darryl Coote · UPIMay 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's offices in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda are responding to the Ebola outbreak, federal health officials said Sunday, amid reports that Americans have been exposed to cases in the DRC.
It was not clear how many Americans were affected by the outbreak, but CBS News, citing unnamed sources at an international aid organization, reported at least six Americans were exposed to the virus, including three considered to have experienced high-risk contact or exposure.
U.S. health news organization STAT was the first to report on Sunday that Americans were involved in the outbreak, stating a number of Americans are believed to have been exposed to suspected cases in the DRC, with several deemed high-risk.
When asked about the reported exposures during a CDC press conference on Sunday, Dr. Satish Pillai, the agency's Ebola response incident manager, said the agency doesn't comment on "individual dispositions."
"I would say again, we are assessing the needs on the ground, the situation and working with our interagency partners, and we will continue to keep individuals posted as we learn more."
The World Health Organization declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern on Saturday, a day after the DRC confirmed the outbreak. WHO officials have identified the cause as the Bundibugyo strain.
As of Sunday, there have been 10 confirmed and 336 suspected cases in the DRC, including 88 deaths, and two confirmed cases, including one death in Uganda, according to a statement from the CDC.
Federal health officials said the risk to the United States remains low.
The CDC is coordinating with interagency partners to prevent further spread of the outbreak and has activated its Emergency Response Center.
"Through our CDC country offices in DRC and Uganda, we are providing in-country support for surveillance, contact tracing, laboratory testing, infection prevention and control, border health activities and community engagement," Pillai told reporters Sunday, adding that additional support was also being mobilized from the CDC's Atlanta headquarters.
There are 30 people at the CDC's DRC office and additional officials were being identified to for deployment early in the week, he said, stating they are also working to identify the needs and who to send to its Uganda office, which has requested assistance.
"We're actively moving to get people into the field," he said.
Ebola is a severe, often fatal disease that is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads through the human population via direct contact with blood and other bodily fluids of infected individuals, according to the WHO.
Ebola has a case fatality rate of around 50%.
Since first being discovered in 1976, the DRC has recorded more than a dozen outbreaks. The WHO described the current outbreak as the country's 17th, while Pillai said it was the 18th.
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