Ebola Information for Clinicians and Healthcare Professionals

Topics on this page:

Overview | Patient Evaluation and Diagnosis | Infection Control | Patient Management | Personal Protective Equipment | Privacy | Laboratory | Patient Movement | Waste Management and Disposal | Presentations

Overview

• Healthcare Provider Preparedness Checklist:  This checklist highlights some key areas health care providers to review in preparation that a person with Ebola arrives for medical care. 
• Ebola Information for Clinicians in U.S. Healthcare Settings: This document provides updated information about Ebola to clinicians working in U.S. hospitals and health clinics.  It includes information on the clinical presentation and course of the disease, pathogenesis, laboratory findings and initial patient evaluation.

Patient Evaluation and Diagnosis

• Could it be Ebola? This fact sheet helps healthcare professionals understand the warning signs of Ebola and how to evaluate the patient.  It also provides a patient care checklist for patients under investigation for Ebola.
• Case Definition for Ebola Virus Disease: Early recognition is critical for infection control. Health care providers should be alert for and evaluate any patients suspected of having Ebola. This case definition explains the distinction between a Person under Investigation (PUI), probable cases and confirmed cases.  It also explains risk exposure  levels.
• Checklist for Patients Being Evaluated for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the United States:  Checklist provide information on what to do with a patient upon arrival; assessing a patient; conducting a risk assessment; and patient management.
• Guidance for Screening and Caring for Pregnant Women with Ebola Virus Disease for Healthcare Providers in U.S. Hospitals: Guidance on how to screen pregnant women for Ebola and how to care for pregnant women with known or suspected Ebola, including considerations for pregnant healthcare workers.

Infection Control

• Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients with Known or Suspected Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. Hospitals:  Standard, contact, and droplet precautions are recommended for management of hospitalized patients with known or suspected Ebola. This guidance outlines only those measures that are specific for Ebola; additional infection control measures might be warranted if an Ebola patient has other conditions or illnesses for which other measures are indicated (e.g., tuberculosis, multi-drug resistant organisms, etc.).
• Recommendations for Safely Performing Acute Hemodialysis in Patients with Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. Hospitals: The purpose of this document is to convey information to hospital-based dialysis providers to help them safely perform renal replacement therapy (hemodialysis) in persons confirmed to have Ebola virus disease (Ebola).  Acute renal failure requiring renal replacement therapy can occur in critically ill patients infected with Ebola.
• Interim Guidance for Environmental Infection Control in Hospitals for Ebola Virus:  The role of the environment in transmission has not been established. However, given the apparent low infectious dose, potential of high virus titers in the blood of ill patients, and disease severity, higher levels of precaution are warranted to reduce the potential risk posed by contaminated surfaces in the patient care environment.
  

Patient Management

• Emergency Department Evaluation and Management for Patients Who Present with Possible Ebola Virus Disease:  The procedures in the accompanying algorithm provide guidance on the Emergency Department evaluation and management of patients who present with possible Ebola Virus Disease. The guidance in this document reflects lessons learned from the recent experiences of U.S. hospitals caring for Ebola patients.
• Ambulatory Care Evaluation of Patients with Possible Ebola Virus Disease (Ebola):  This algorithm provides healthcare professionals in ambulatory care facilities with resources to help them identify and safely isolate a possible Ebola patient and then appropriately notify the health department.
  
• Frequently Asked Questions:  Safe Management of Patients with Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in U.S. Hospitals:  This document provides answers to frequently asked questions about safety and the necessary infection control procedures to protect patients and healthcare providers in U.S. hospitals.
• Resources for Parents, Schools and Pediatric Healthcare Professionals:  This set of reasources includes information for pediatricians and obstetrician-gynecologists as well as some more general resources on Ebola.
  

Personal Protective Equipment

• Guidance on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) To Be Used by Healthcare Workers During Management of Patients with Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. Hospitals, Including Procedures for Putting On (Donning) and Removing (Doffing):   These procedures provide detailed guidance on the types of PPE to be used for the donning and doffing of PPE for all healthcare workers entering the room of a patient hospitalized with Ebola.  It incorporates lessons learned and emphasizes the importance of training, practice, competence, and observation of healthcare workers in correct donning and doffing of PPE selected by the facility.
• Respiratory Protection for Ebola:  This video discusses the use of CDC recommended PPE for respiratory protection when caring for patients with Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. hospitals.
• PPE Selection Matrix for Occupational Exposure to Ebola Virus:  Employers are responsible for ensuring that workers are protected from exposure to Ebola virus and that workers are not exposed to harmful levels of chemicals used for cleaning and disinfection.
  

Privacy

• Bulletin:  HIPAA Privacy in Emergency Situations:  The HIPAA Privacy Rule protects the privacy of patients’ health information (protected health information) but is balanced to ensure that appropriate uses and disclosures of the information still may be made when necessary to treat a patient, to protect the nation’s public health, and for other critical purposes.

Laboratory

• Interim Guidance for Specimen Collection, Transport, Testing, and Submission for Persons Under Investigation for Ebola Virus Disease in the United States: This document provides laboratorians and other healthcare personnel who handle specimens updated guidance for collecting specimens correctly, transporting and testing specimens from PUI for Ebola. 
• How U.S. Clinical Laboratories Can Safely Manage Specimens from Persons Under Investigation for Ebola Virus Disease: CDC provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding the safe handling of specimens from patients under investigation (PUI) for Ebola.
• Interim Guidance Regarding Compliance with Select Agent Regulations for Laboratories Handling Patient Specimens that are Known or Suspected to Contain Ebola Virus:  Ebola virus is regulated as a select agent in accordance with the HHS Select Agent regulations (42 CFR Part 73). This guidance explains how to apply the select agent regulations to activities associated with the diagnosis and care of individuals suspected of having an infection with Ebola virus.
  

Patient Movement

• Interim U.S. Guidance for Monitoring and Movement of Persons with Potential Ebola Virus Exposure:  CDC has created interim guidance for monitoring people potentially exposed to Ebola and for evaluating their intended travel, including the application of movement restrictions when indicated. This interim guidance has been updated by establishing a “low (but not zero) risk” category; adding a “no identifiable risk” category; modifying the recommended public health actions in the high, some, and low (but not zero) risk categories; and adding recommendations for specific groups and settings.
• Questions and Answers about CDC’s Ebola Monitoring & Movement Guidance: Learn about updates to the interim guidance and answers to common questions.
  

Waste Management and Disposal

• Ebola-Associated Waste Management:  This document is intended to provide hospitals and healthcare providers with key information about the safe handling, transport, and disposal of waste generated from the care of persons diagnosed with or suspected of having Ebola.
• Procedures for Safe Handling and Management of Ebola-Associated Waste: This document provides detailed step by step procedures for use with the CDC guidance on Ebola-Associated Waste Management.
  
• Safe Handling, Treatment, Transport and Disposal of Ebola-Contaminated Waste:  Learn to protect workers involved in handling, treatment, transport and disposal of medical, laboratory and other waste must be protected from exposure to Ebola and from physical and chemical hazards that may be associated with waste management tasks
  

Presentations

The following presentations provide templates that EMS agencies and personnel can use as templates to develop Ebola presentations for their staff.  The following presentations contain information that has been cleared by ASPR and CDC.

• Ebola 101 - CDC Slides for U.S. Healthcare Workers:  This presentation provides an overview of Ebola as a disease, information on the current outbreak.
  
• Webinar:  Ebola PPE Donning and Doffing Procedures:  This web-based training includes information on properly putting on and removing the PPE that is to be used during management of patients with Ebola in U.S. Hospitals.
  
• Ebola Overview:  This presentation provides an overview of the Ebola as a disease and the outbreak in West Africa.  It also provides information on the goals and challenges of the response, treatment of patients, management of clinical samples, patient monitoring and more.

Frequently monitor CDC’s Ebola website  and subscribe to updates from CDC for the most current information on Ebola.  CDC is available 24/7 for consultation.  State and local health departments with questions should contact  the CDC Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 770-488-7100 or via email at eocreport@cdc.gov.