Evidence for a Decrease in Transmission of Ebola Virus — Lofa County, Liberia, June 8–November 1, 2014
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Early Release / Vol. 63 November 14, 2014 Evidence for a Decrease in Transmission of Ebola Virus — Lofa County, Liberia, June 8–November 1, 2014 Aditya Sharma, MD1, Nico Heijenberg, MD2, Clement Peter, MD3, Josephus Bolongei, MD4, Bruce Reeder, MD5,6, Tamba Alpha4, Esther Sterk, MD5, Hugues Robert5, Andreas Kurth, PhD7,8, Angela Cannas, PhD7,9, Anne Bocquin, MSc7,10, Thomas Strecker, PhD7,11, Christopher Logue, PhD7,12, Antonino Di Caro, MD7,9, Thomas Pottage7,12, Constanze Yue, PhD7,8, Kilian Stoecker, PhD7,13, Roman Wölfel, MD7,13, Martin Gabriel, MD7,14, Stephan Günther, MD7,14, Inger Damon, MD PhD15 (Author affiliations at end of text) Lofa County has one of the highest cumulative incidences changes in local practices of caring for the ill and burying of Ebola virus disease (Ebola) in Liberia. Recent situation the dead, 2) developing a dedicated ETU in Foya that could reports from the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare efficiently accommodate increases in new admissions, 3) estab- (MoHSW) have indicated a decrease in new cases of Ebola in lishing a local hotline and outreach teams from Médecins Sans Lofa County (1). In October 2014, the Liberian MoHSW Frontières (MSF) and local health offices to rapidly transport requested the assistance of CDC to further characterize persons with Ebola-like symptoms to the Foya ETU and safely recent trends in Ebola in Lofa County. Data collected during bury persons suspected of dying from Ebola, 4) establishing June 8–November 1, 2014 from three sources were analyzed: a dedicated laboratory facility for rapid case identification, 1) aggregate data for newly reported cases, 2) case-based data 5) active case-finding in areas with newly reported cases, and for persons admitted to the dedicated Ebola treatment unit 6) training general community health volunteers to conduct (ETU) for the county, and 3) test results for community contact tracing of persons with known exposures.
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