Weekly Rounds: Ebola Screening Gaps, Dengue in Florida, and Why Shared Equipment Still Matters

This week's coverage in Infection Control Today^® kept returning to one theme: the distance between the protocols we have and the way pathogens actually move, from airport thermometers and shared devices to the hand hygiene habits of busy clinics.

Kenya's Imported Ebola Case Exposes Limits of Fever Screening

Kenya confirmed its first imported Bundibugyo virus disease case after a 40-year-old man traveled through the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya while ill, passing thermal screening at airports in both Uganda and Kenya. Officials suggest medication may have masked his fever. He tested positive on October 5 and died that night, and Kenya traced 28 contacts, mostly health care workers, along with 23 airline passengers and four crew.

Author Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC, AL-CIP, argues that temperature checks and self-reporting have clear limits and that contact tracing and hospital IPC readiness carry the weight.

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Florida Dengue Outbreak Reaches 296 Local Cases

The Florida Department of Health's Week 39 update lists 296 locally acquired dengue cases across eight counties, 259 of them in Hillsborough County, including the death of an 80-year-old Tampa woman. Of serotyped cases, 273 were DENV-2. Ubong Johnson, MD, notes that about 1 in 20 symptomatic patients develop severe disease, that treatment should not wait for test results, and that aspirin and NSAIDs should be avoided. No dengue vaccine is currently available in the US.

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Shared Equipment and Missed Surfaces Drive AMR Risk

Doe Kley, MPH, RN, CIC, of Clorox Purell ProCare, says environmental hygiene is a frontline defense against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). She cites a 2024 Rutala study finding 65% of long-term care resident rooms held at least 1 multidrug-resistant organism, and argues that most failures are process problems, not disinfectant resistance: 90% of 10 hospitals had at least one dispenser delivering low concentrations, and only 16% of mobile equipment is cleaned between patients. Her mantra: "You use it, you clean it."

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AI Sepsis Detection: Promising, but Accuracy Alone Isn't Enough

Suchandrima Bhowmik, MS, reviews AI tools for early sepsis detection in ICU and NICU patients. A 2026 review of 37 studies found several adult models with AUROC above 0.90, flagging risk 3 to 24 hours before diagnosis, and Duke's Sepsis Watch has been linked to 27% lower sepsis-related mortality. Limitations include false alarms, single-site testing, and uncertain effects on outcomes; the author therefore urges real-time, multisite validation.

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Applying the WHO 5 Moments in Ambulatory Care

Published for Global Handwashing Day, Jamar Shaw, MD, MPH, CIC, cautions that "Gel in, gel out" can become a mental shortcut that obscures the purpose of hand hygiene. “Organisms do not recognize doorways,” he writes, urging teams in exam rooms, infusion chairs, and procedure areas to apply the World Health Organization’s 5 Moments to actual care sequences.

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Also on the Radar

The Joint Commission leaders speak on AI: How can hospitals pursue AI’s potential while protecting patients from harm? The Joint Commission leaders Jonathan Perlin and James Merlino see governance, transparency, and ongoing monitoring as essential parts of the answer.

“We're not the technology experts, but we're pretty good at governance and policy,” Perlin says.

In an interview with Infection Control Today’s sister brand, Chief Healthcare Executive^®, the leaders discuss opportunities to strengthen handoffs, support earlier sepsis detection, and reduce avoidable harm. They also outline the organizational safeguards needed to evaluate AI applications and respond when safety concerns emerge.

Read the interview: https://www.chiefhealthcareexecutive.com/view/how-the-joint-commission-is-viewing-ai

Arizona pneumonic plague case: A fatal Arizona case highlights the importance of asking patients about exposure to sick animals when evaluating severe respiratory illness. As reported by Infectious Disease News, a young adult man died from pneumonic plague less than 8 hours after emergency department admission following occupational contact with 2 sick cats. Investigators identified the cats as possible sources, although neither could be tested to confirm infection, and 46 potentially exposed contacts began a 7-day course of antibiotic prophylaxis. “Rapid collaboration by local, state, and federal public health officials was critical,” CDC medical officer Grace Marx, MD, said, underscoring the importance of prompt recognition, treatment, and coordinated contact tracing.

Growth of medical device cleaning market: The global medical device cleaning market is projected to grow from $2.87 billion in 2026 to $3.93 billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate of 6.5%, according to MarketsandMarkets. The company attributes this growth to increasingly complex reusable devices, investments in sterile processing infrastructure, and demand for standardized reprocessing practices. Its report describes growing interest in “cleaning verification technologies, traceability solutions, and digital monitoring tools,” highlighting the industry’s focus on improving process consistency and documentation.