This afternoon, Dr. Frieden and CDC leadership published an article entitled, “Ebola 2014: New Challenges, New Opportunities,” in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article summarizes CDC’s approach to stopping the West Africa outbreak and the opportunity to strengthen global health security.
3 Things to Know
• Ebola virus disease is the latest health threat facing the world
• The current outbreak has killed more than 1,000 people to date
• The number of cases in the current outbreak now exceeds the number from all previous outbreaks combined
To protect Americans, CDC is working with partners to help stop the outbreak at its source in Africa, the most effective and least expensive way to protect people’s health. Three core interventions have stopped every prior outbreak—and can also stop this outbreak:
• Exhaustive case and contact finding
• Effective response to patients and the community
• Preventive interventions
Earlier this year, the United States joined other governments, the World Health Organization, and other organizations to launch the Global Health Security Agenda. The agenda will, in countries that need it most, strengthen public health systems such as laboratory networks, emergency operation centers that can track and respond to outbreaks, and train public health staff that stop outbreaks before they become emergencies. Stopping the Ebola outbreak—and doing so in a way that leaves behind stronger systems to find, stop, and prevent health threats—is the most effective way to protect Americans and is a moral imperative.
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