Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
WHO Proclaims Ebola Outbreak Is An International Public Health Emergency
Stat: WHO Declares Ebola Outbreak A Global Public Health Emergency
The World Health Organization late Saturday declared the outbreak of Ebola that was first seen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo an international public health emergency, underscoring the concern about the spread of the virus as travel-related cases were reported in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. (Joseph, 5/17)
Bloomberg: CDC To Escalate Ebola Response After WHO Declares Emergency
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is escalating its response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, after the World Health Organization labeled the outbreak a public health emergency. The agency plans to deploy additional staff to the affected countries and will provide technical support including laboratory testing, contact tracing and surveillance through its country offices, said Satish Pillai, the CDC’s Ebola response incident manager, on a call with reporters Sunday. It has also activated its emergency response center. (Nix, 5/17)
CBS News: At Least 6 Americans In Congo Were Exposed To Ebola Virus, Sources Say
At least six Americans were exposed to Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sources with international aid organizations told CBS News, although it was unclear if any had been infected. Three of the Americans faced a high-risk contact or exposure, the sources said, and one was symptomatic. It wasn't immediately clear whether the Americans are still in Congo. The health news organization STAT was first to report on the exposures. (Gounder, 5/17)
Politico: Ebola Risk In U.S. Remains Low Amid Congo Outbreak, CDC Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday that risk of the Ebola virus to the U.S. population remains low as the World Health Organization has declared a global health emergency amid an outbreak of the disease in central Africa. “Travelers to the region should avoid contact with sick people, report symptoms immediately and follow our travel health guidance,” Satish Pillai, the CDC’s Ebola response incident manager, said on a call with reporters. (Hooper, 5/17)
Newsweek: How Ebola Compares To Hantavirus As 'Small Number' Of Americans Impacted In DRC
A “small number” of Americans are being withdrawn from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda after exposure to an Ebola outbreak, U.S. health officials said, not long after the hantavirus outbreak aboard an Antarctic expedition cruise ship, which has left dozens of Americans under monitoring following possible exposure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it is assisting those “directly affected” by the outbreak following the World Health Organization’s declaration of a public health emergency of international concern. The outbreak has so far included 10 confirmed cases and 336 suspected cases—88 of them fatal—in the DRC, along with two confirmed cases and one death in Uganda. (Laws, 5/18)
The latest about the hantavirus —
The Hill: Hantavirus Has Not Mutated To Be More Transmissible: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday there is currently no evidence that the hantavirus that caused an outbreak on a cruise ship has mutated to be more severe or transmissible. That news comes amid fears of a broader outbreak of the Andes hantavirus, which has no cure and can be fatal. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention at the WHO, said geneticists have been sequencing the virus that infected those on the ship. (Whiteside, 5/15)
CIDRAP: Hantavirus Outbreak Reduced To 10 Cases As Ship Passengers Return To Home Countries
The World Health Organization (WHO) today reduced the number of reported hantavirus cases from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius from 11 to 10. WHO officials said at a press briefing this morning that the 11 cases reported in a disease outbreak update on May 13 included one inconclusive test in a passenger from the United States. But the agency learned yesterday that the patient has tested negative. Eight cases have been confirmed, and two are probable. (Dall, 5/15)
NBC News: Where Hantavirus Lurks In The U.S.: Why States Like Colorado, New Mexico Are Hot Spots
A recent suspected hantavirus case in Illinois is a stark reminder that the potentially deadly virus does exist in the U.S. There are currently no cases of hantavirus in the U.S. that are linked to the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak. The Andes strain of hantavirus that killed three passengers hasn’t been found in North America. (Edwards, 5/17)
AP: Canadian National Health Agency Confirms Positive Hantavirus Test
Canada’s national health agency Sunday confirmed that one of four Canadians who returned home from a cruise ship hit with a hantavirus outbreak has tested positive for the virus. The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the positive test a day after the public health officer for the province of British Columbia said the person had received a “presumptive positive” but further testing would be conducted at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg. “One individual’s sample was confirmed positive for hantavirus,” the national agency said in a statement. (5/17)
On the federal and state response —
The Hill: Donald Trump's Health Cuts Complicate Federal Messaging On Hantavirus
The federal hantavirus response has laid bare the impact of the Trump administration’s cuts to U.S. and global health, renewing concerns among public health experts that the U.S. is not prepared for a bigger health crisis. Career scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been fired or left the agency, and there are far fewer people available to respond to outbreaks and to communicate with the public. That has largely left political appointees in charge of updating the public. (Weixel, 5/16)
MedPage Today: Many States Not Prepared To Respond To Public Health Emergencies, Report Finds
Even as hantavirus cases on a cruise ship continue to cause concern, about one-fourth of states are not fully prepared to manage a public health emergency if one should come their way, a report found. "The nation faced the most severe flu season in nearly a decade, the highest annual measles case count since 1991, and devastating weather-related emergencies, even as federal public health funding, staffing, and operational support were destabilized," J. Nadine Gracia, MD, president and CEO of the Trust for America's Health (TFAH), which sponsored the report, said in a press release. (Frieden, 5/15)
Also —
The Hill: Hantavirus Is Potential STD In Males, Resurfacing Medical Research Suggests
A 2023 study suggesting the hantavirus can live for years in semen and be transmitted sexually long after infection is getting attention following the deadly outbreak on the MV Hondius. Three passengers on the Dutch‑flagged cruise ship died after contracting the Andes strain of hantavirus, and several others were infected. A small number of Americans who disembarked have either tested positive or are being monitored in the U.S. Global health officials say the Andes strain — the only known form of hantavirus capable of person‑to‑person transmission — is not expected to trigger a pandemic. However, the virus has a mortality rate estimated at up to 40 percent. (Ramsey, 5/17)
NBC News: Omaha Steaks, Nerf Basketball And Hazmat Suits: Former Contagion Patients Describe Life In Quarantine Amid Hantavirus
As more than 40 Americans remain in quarantine for up to six weeks following a hantavirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship, former patients who spent time inside some of the country’s highest-security medical isolation units during previous viral contagions are sharing what it’s like to endure weeks cut off from the outside world. “I want the people who are being affected by this, who are in quarantine or who have loved ones who are in quarantine, to rest assured that they are in the best of hands,” Dr. Kent Brantly, who spent weeks in isolation after contracting Ebola in 2014, told NBC News. “They are in the best place to be taken care of.” (Cohen, 5/17)
