NC Public Health and Emergency Management Officials Conducting Ebola Drill | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    RALEIGH     Officials from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and the NC Department of Public Safety will be participating with federal, state and local officials in a multi-state Ebola virus disease emergency preparedness exercise Nov. 4-8, 2019.

    Coordinated by DHHS's Health Care Preparedness Program in the Division of Health Service Regulation, the exercise will focus on the movement of patients between hospitals when Ebola is a suspected or confirmed diagnosis. The drill will involve local hospitals and health care agencies across the state to simulate how public health, first responders and health care providers would respond if someone in North Carolina were to be diagnosed with Ebola virus disease.

    As part of the exercise, it is possible that members of the public might see health care workers moving around their communities in protective gear with ambulances, law enforcement activities and other Ebola-related response actions in counties across the state.

    "A drill is the best way for us to test emergency plans at all levels and make sure we are prepared," said Dr. Zack Moore, State Epidemiologist. "Together with our partners we want to do everything we can to keep North Carolinians safe from Ebola and other infectious disease threats."

    Following the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, federal agencies provided special funding to ensure the nation's health care system is ready to safely and successfully identify, manage and treat patients with Ebola or patients under investigation for Ebola. North Carolina has used these funds to collaboratively plan, train, equip and test the health care system and local public health partners on Ebola preparedness and response activities.

    This is the first state-wide full-scale Ebola exercise in North Carolina. Other participants in the exercise are part of the Region IV (southeast) states which include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as the Regional Ebola Treatment Center in Atlanta and the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Preparedness & Response Region IV Regional Emergency Coordinators.

    Ebola virus disease is a rare and deadly disease caused by an infection with the Ebola virus or related viruses. Ebola is spread through unprotected contact with blood or body fluids from someone who is infected. Ebola virus was first discovered in 1976 and since that time outbreaks have occurred in several African countries. The largest Ebola outbreak took place in West Africa in 2014-2016 and resulted in more than 28,600 cases and 11,300 deaths. Although there has been an ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo since August of 2018, the current risk to the U.S. and North Carolina is very low.

    For additional information about Ebola, visit https://epi.dph.ncdhhs.gov/cd/diseases/hemorrhagic.html or https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola.


  • NC Department of Health and Human Services
  • 2001 Mail Service Center
  • Raleigh, NC 27699-2001
  • Ph: (919) 855-4840
  • news@dhhs.nc.gov

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Child Fatality Task Force Examines Child Death Data with Historic Low Rate North Carolina Health, Body & Soul, Health and Fitness At Last, It is Autumn!


HbAD0

Latest Health and Fitness

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Spanish-language Cafecito and tele-town hall on Tuesday, Feb. 27, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
Part of ongoing effort to raise awareness and combat rising congenital syphilis cases
Recognition affirms ECU Health’s commitment to providing highly-reliable, human-centered care
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a new Statewide Peer Warmline on Feb. 20, 2024. The new Peer Warmline will work in tandem with the North Carolina 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by giving callers the option to speak with a Peer Support Specialist.
A subsidiary of one of the largest health insurance agencies in the U.S. was hit by a cyberattack earlier this week from what it believes is a foreign “nation-state” actor, crippling many pharmacies’ ability to process prescriptions across the country.
The John Locke Foundation is supporting a New Bern eye surgeon's legal fight against North Carolina's certificate-of-need restrictions on healthcare providers.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the following statement on the Trails Carolina investigation:
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released a draft of its 2024-25 Olmstead Plan designed to assist people with disabilities to reside in and experience the full benefit of inclusive communities.

HbAD1

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live fireside chat and tele-town hall on Tues., Feb. 20, from 6 to 7 p.m., to discuss how to support and improve heart health as well as prevent and manage heart disease.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is investing $5.5 million into the FIT Wellness program, part of the North Carolina Formerly Incarcerated Transition Program in the UNC School of Medicine, to improve reentry services for the justice-involved population.
As of Feb. 1, 2024, 346,408 newly eligible North Carolinians are enrolled in Medicaid and now have access to comprehensive health care, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dashboard.
Controversy surrounds a healthcare provider’s decision to block parents from having access to their children’s prescription records.
Members of the North Carolina Rural Health Association (NCRHA) visited Washington, D.C., on Feb. 14, 2024, to meet with elected officials and advocate for policies to improve access to care in rural areas.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today released the request for proposal to hire the organization that will help manage the Children and Families Specialty Plan.
As part of its commitment to improve the health and well-being of North Carolina children and families, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced the launch of its Child Behavioral Health dashboard.
February is National Children's Dental Health Month, and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is emphasizing the importance of children's dental hygiene to overall health and well-being.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top