Ebola 2014: Clarifying the Confusion—A Public Health and Laboratory Containment Perspective

Abstract

The 2014 West African Ebola outbreak has spawned a chain of preparedness planning in the United States (U.S.). Although clinical and public health laboratories are hard at work preparing for the presentation of highly suspect patients, a number of issues have been identified that need to be addressed. Guidelines have been developed and distributed; procedures need to be revised and training needs to occur. It is imperative that public health laboratory systems support their clinical infrastructure. The purpose of this article is to share information the authors have gleaned from their research and involvement in the 2014 public health response.