News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that public health authorities will begin active post-arrival monitoring of travelers whose travel originates in Liberia, Sierra Leone, or Guinea.  These travelers are now arriving to the United States at one of five airports where entry screening is being conducted by Customs and Border Protection and CDC.  Active post-arrival monitoring means that travelers without febrile illness or symptoms consistent with Ebola will be followed up daily by state and local health departments for 21 days from the date of their departure from West Africa. Six states (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia), where approximately 70 percent of incoming travelers are headed, have already taken steps to plan and implement active post-arrival monitoring which will begin on Monday, October 27. Active post-arrival monitoring will begin in the remaining states in the days following.   CDC is providing assistance with active post-arrival monitoring to state and local health departments, including information on travelers arriving in their states, and upon request, technical support, consultation and funding.

A quiet solution amidst the rising clamor for answers in the current Ebola crisis comes from a surprising corner of America’s federal laboratory system. Scientists at a U.S. Army research lab in Natick, Mass. developed and patented a novel chemical system that is now being used to sterilize medical equipment and electronic items used in the treatment of patients on the front lines of the war on Ebola in West Africa. This came about through the transfer of the technology from the Army lab to a privately held company, ClorDiSys Solutions, which now produces, packages, and markets the solution on a worldwide basis.