Most of the 13 US treatment centres in a government-funded hospital network for severe infectious diseases were ready to handle patients, including those with Ebola if needed, representatives from the hospitals said this week.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has resulted in 344 confirmed cases of the disease and 60 deaths, according to the World Health Organisation. One American confirmed to have Ebola has been treated in Germany.
The US State Department has said US citizens who have been exposed to the virus but have no symptoms would be quarantined in Kenya at a facility it was building. It vowed to keep the US free of travellers who have Ebola.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said its network was ready to respond to an outbreak if needed.
Public health experts have increased calls for the government to bring sick Americans home for treatment after protests at the site in Kenya led to at least two deaths. A Kenyan court has ordered a block to the construction.
The US has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on preparing its health system to be able to handle Ebola patients since the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, including funding the network of 13 treatment centres.
Reuters reached out to the 13 hospitals and universities across the country that are part of the programme called the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Centre. Nine of them confirmed they were able to receive patients who have been exposed to Ebola.
The network includes well-known sites such as the University of Nebraska and Emory University in Atlanta, which recently housed Americans exposed to Hantavirus on a cruise, as well as others like Bellevue Hospital in New York and Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles.
Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for HHS, said hospitals “stand ready to safely evaluate, isolate and treat patients with high-consequence infectious diseases”.
In the 2014 West Africa outbreak, the US brought several Ebola patients back to be treated domestically. The next year, HHS received around $260 million in funding for Ebola preparedness and response activities in support of the regional treatment network. The facilities are required to be able to take care of at least two patients who have been exposed to a contagious viral haemorrhagic fever.
The US CDC has dozens of employees in the DRC and has said it plans to send Public Health Service Corps members to staff the Kenya site. Americans also volunteer there for international relief organisations. — Reuters.
- Most of the 13 US treatment centers in a government-funded hospital network for severe infectious diseases are ready to handle patients.
- The centers are equipped to treat patients with Ebola if necessary.
- Hospital representatives confirmed their preparedness this week.
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- Additional related video content is available on the Sunday World YouTube channel.
Most of the 13 US treatment centres in a government-funded hospital network for severe infectious diseases were ready to handle patients, including those with Ebola if needed, representatives from the hospitals said this week.
Public health experts have increased calls for the government to bring sick Americans home for treatment after protests at the site in
Reuters reached out to the 13 hospitals and universities across the country that are part of the programme called the National
Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for HHS, said hospitals “stand ready to safely evaluate, isolate and treat patients with high-consequence infectious diseases”.
In the 2014 West Africa outbreak, the US brought several Ebola patients back to be treated domestically.
