May 26 (Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked staff to volunteer for urgent deployment to support Ebola screening at the country’s entry points, according to an email seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya said in the email that the agency had activated a Level 2 emergency response on May 18 to an outbreak of the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and was expanding recruitment beyond its usual emergency responder pool as screening of selected international arrivals ramps up.
Level 2 is an intermediate level of emergency response. It indicates a need for substantial additional staffing to meet response demands, according to the CDC’s website.
The CDC said enhanced screening operations are already under way at several port health stations and will require additional personnel. Staff across roles, including public health advisers, emergency specialists and licensed medical providers, are being asked to support the effort, subject to supervisor approval.
Volunteers could be tasked with monitoring incoming travelers for signs of illness, checking temperatures and referring suspected cases for further assessment, according to the email.
The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of the virus. Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola the third-largest such outbreak on record, and a public health emergency of international concern.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that the fast-moving Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was outpacing response efforts, giving the latest number of suspected deaths as 220.
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury and Siddhi Mahatole in Bengaluru; editing by Alan Barona)
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