06/13/2019: Lab Advisory: CDC Activates Emergency Operations Center for Ebola Outbreak in Eastern DRC
Audience: Clinical Laboratory Partners and Laboratories
Level: Lab Advisory: Important information for a specific incident or situation; contains recommendations or actionable items to be performed by public health officials, laboratorians, and clinicians.
Today the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the activation of its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to support the inter-agency response to the current Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
CDC’s activation of the EOC at Level 3, the lowest level of activation, allows the agency to provide increased operational support for the response to meet the outbreak’s evolving challenges. CDC subject matter experts will continue to lead the CDC response with enhanced support from other CDC and EOC staff.
The risk of global spread of Ebola remains low. Activation of the CDC EOC does not mean that the threat of Ebola to the United States has increased or that changes are being made to CDC’s outbreak-related guidance, such as advice to travelers to DRC or recommendations to organizations that deploy US-based healthcare or emergency response workers to outbreak-affected areas.
The outbreak in DRC is occurring in a region where there is armed conflict, outbreaks of violence, and other problems that complicate public health response activities, and increase the risk of disease spread both within DRC and to neighboring countries. CDC remains committed to working with the ministries of health of DRC and neighboring countries, in collaboration with other international partners, to ensure the response to this outbreak is robust and well-coordinated to stop the spread of disease and end the outbreak.
For more information, see CDC’s press release on activation of the EOC.
Laboratory Outreach Communication System | Division of Laboratory Systems (DLS)
Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (CSELS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)