Frieden: It took 1000 HCW 19,000 home visits to stop Ebola

[Ray]

http://www.c-span.org/video/?321685-1/congressional-seminar-ebola-outbreak-west-africa

(Sorry for the all caps, transcript online this way)
Dr. Frieden CDC:

"SO WHEN ONE INDIVIDUAL WENT TO LAGOS, A COUNTRY COME A CITY OF 21 MY PEOPLE, ABOUT THE SAME AS THE THREE COUNTRIES IN WEST AFRICA, WE GOT ON THE PHONE WITH THE GOVERNOR OF LAGOS AND HEALTH MINISTER OF NIGERIA. WE SENT A TEAM OF EXPERTS WITHIN 48 HOURS TO BE THERE. WE BROUGHT IN 40 PEOPLE WHO WE ARE TRAINED TO TO CONTACT TRACING IS PART OF THE POLIO RATIFICATION -- ERADICATION AND WORKING EFFECTIVELY ON THE. NOW THEY ARE NOT COMPLETELY OUT OF THE WOODS BUT IT DOES LOOK LIKE THEY HAVE CONTROLLED THE OUTBREAK IN BOTH LAGOS AND PORT HARCOURT. THAT INVOLVED MORE THAN 1000 HEALTH CARE WORKERS DOING AMONG OTHER THINGS MORE THAN 19,000 HOME VISITS TO MEASURE TEMPERATURE OF NEARLY 1000 MADE CONTACT. THAT WAS TO ADDRESS ONE CASE OF EBOLA. SO WE NEED TO HAVE A RESPONSE THAT IS IMMEDIATE, THAT IS SUSTAINED AND THAT PREVENTS FUTURE EVENTS LIKE THIS. BECAUSE WE COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE."

[Dallas]

Re: Frieden: It took 1000 HCW 19,000 home visits to stop Ebola

I see his point. The previous outbreaks in rural areas lulled the world into thinking this would burn out, run it's course so to speak. The next obvious question is, with the population explotion and deforestation, is it a no-brainer that this won't be the last outbreak? One can only assume (hope) that all the work going on right now for a vaccine will nip this in the bud by 2016. But again with all the deforestation and pressure for food this will occur again, different bug maybe. At some point the population will be unsustainable. Wish I could be a little mouse in the corner 200 years from now to see how it turns out.

[Ray]

Re: Frieden: It took 1000 HCW 19,000 home visits to stop Ebola

I think the problem is scalability.

[Emily]

Re: Frieden: It took 1000 HCW 19,000 home visits to stop Ebola

Thanks for sharing those statistics, Ray. I haven't seen them elsewhere. They did such a great job controlling Ebola in Nigeria that it seemed easier than it was.