sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
From: WorldHealthOrganizationNews@who.int
To: undisclosed-recipients@null, null@null
Subject: WHO: Clarification on country groupings for Ebola outbreak
Date: Aug 13, 2014 10:41 AM
Clarification on country groupings for Ebola outbreak:
On 8 August 2014, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a public health emergency of international concern. In addition she recommended governments take action depending on the situation within their countries.
Category 1 ? those affected with Ebola (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone)
Category 2 ?at high risk of transmission because of movement of people between the affected countries or because they are nearby the affected countries. countries with a potential or confirmed Ebola case, OR unaffected States with land borders of affected countries.
Category 3 ? all other countries
On 13 August, the Ministry of Health and WHO in Kenya held a press conference to update media on the preparedness measures the government in Kenya was taking. In that press conference, WHO mentioned that Kenya was a category 2 country meaning it does not currently have a case of Ebola but there is movement of people between Kenya and the countries that do have cases.
Under the recommendations of the Director General after the Ebola Emergency Committee last week, countries that do not have cases should:
Establish surveillance for cases of unexplained fever or deaths
Establish access to a qualified diagnostic laboratory to test for Ebola virus
Ensure that health workers are aware of and trained in appropriate infection prevention and control
Establish rapid response teams with the capacity to investigate and manage Ebola virus cases and their contacts.
In the recommendations, countries are grouped by their vulnerability to importation for Ebola. For more information on that actions recommended for different groups of countries please see this website:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-20140808/en/
Best Regards
WHO Media Team
To: undisclosed-recipients@null, null@null
Subject: WHO: Clarification on country groupings for Ebola outbreak
Date: Aug 13, 2014 10:41 AM
Clarification on country groupings for Ebola outbreak:
On 8 August 2014, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a public health emergency of international concern. In addition she recommended governments take action depending on the situation within their countries.
Category 1 ? those affected with Ebola (Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone)
Category 2 ?at high risk of transmission because of movement of people between the affected countries or because they are nearby the affected countries. countries with a potential or confirmed Ebola case, OR unaffected States with land borders of affected countries.
Category 3 ? all other countries
On 13 August, the Ministry of Health and WHO in Kenya held a press conference to update media on the preparedness measures the government in Kenya was taking. In that press conference, WHO mentioned that Kenya was a category 2 country meaning it does not currently have a case of Ebola but there is movement of people between Kenya and the countries that do have cases.
Under the recommendations of the Director General after the Ebola Emergency Committee last week, countries that do not have cases should:
Establish surveillance for cases of unexplained fever or deaths
Establish access to a qualified diagnostic laboratory to test for Ebola virus
Ensure that health workers are aware of and trained in appropriate infection prevention and control
Establish rapid response teams with the capacity to investigate and manage Ebola virus cases and their contacts.
In the recommendations, countries are grouped by their vulnerability to importation for Ebola. For more information on that actions recommended for different groups of countries please see this website:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2014/ebola-20140808/en/
Best Regards
WHO Media Team