It is a key element of outbreak control to identify people as early as possible and being able to isolate them as early as possible. Contact tracing during an outbreak of ebola virus disease. Contact tracing was a critical intervention in liberia and represented one of the largest contact tracing efforts during an epidemic in history. Emergency guideline for the implementation and management of contact tracing for 7 ebola virus disease successful contact tracing requires skills in the assessment of evd symptoms, interviewing techniques and counselling. Available evidence suggests that poor contact tracing was a driver of the evd outbreak in west africa, including sierra leone. Centers for disease control and prevention subject. A model of the 2014 ebola epidemic in west africa with. A national plan to enable comprehensive covid19 case finding and contact tracing in the us 5 lessons from around the world to inform state, territorial, and community response several countries have demonstrated that an approach of aggressive casefinding and contact tracing can be an effective measure in helping to control the spread of covid19. The 20142016 ebola epidemic in west africa was the largest ebola epidemic to date.
Airborne or fomite spread has not been seen in outbreaks. Use of a mobile application for ebola contact tracing and. During the ebola virus disease evd epidemic in liberia, contact tracing was. A person with ebola virus disease can spread the disease to others as soon as he or she begins to have symptoms. Although few studies have formally evaluated how well contact tracing works, the recent containment of the ebola virus in the democratic republic of the congos equateur province, nipah virus in india, as well as the numerous other outbreaks halted each year, suggest that contact tracing is effective when transmission is localised and most cases can be identified. Ebola contact tracing operations used paperbased systems supplemented by phone calls and short message service sms. Contact tracing can stop the ebola outbreak in its tracks, declared a chart the centers for disease control and prevention distributed on twitter on wednesday, a message echoed in a news. Community workers were recruited among literate persons living. Early identification and prevention of the spread of ebola in. Can privacy be respected when using mobile phones for. Contact tracing is an integral component of the overall strategy for controlling an outbreak of ebola virus disease evd. In most scenarios, highly effective contact tracing and case isolation is enough to control a new outbreak of covid19 within 3 months. While there were notable improvements in implementation over time, these data suggest there were limitations to its performanceparticularly in urban districts and during peak transmission. Contact tracing activities during the ebola virus disease.
Pdf contact tracing following outbreak of ebola virus. Delayed and ineffective contact tracing contributed to the extensive transmission of ebola virus disease evd in the 20142015 west. This should trigger an active search for suspected cases both in the community and at health facilities. Frontiers contact tracing during an outbreak of ebola. Contact tracing commenced in lagos, and extended to port harcourt and enugu as. Early identification and prevention of the spread of ebola. Contact tracing is a key component to halting the epidemic and getting to zero cases. Oct 03, 2014 contact tracing can stop the ebola outbreak in its tracks, declared a chart the centers for disease control and prevention distributed on twitter on wednesday, a message echoed in a news. This study is motivated by the work of legrand et al. Thorough case identification and contact tracing are necessary to end this epidemic. Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus with a fever, sore throat, muscular pain, and headaches. Jun 22, 2016 introductioncontact tracing is a critical strategy required for timely prevention and control of ebola virus disease evd outbreaks. In this article, we answered the question as to whether evd contact tracing, as practiced in western area wa districts of sierra. Ebola, also known as ebola virus disease evd, is a viral haemorrhagic fever of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses.
Contact tracing can stop infectious disease outbreaks. Contact tracing in which everyone who had close contact with a symptomatic ebola patient is tracked and then monitored for 21 days to see if. Techassisted contact tracing could be part of a broader strategy for loosening socialdistancing and lockdown measures over the longerterm. Control efforts include contact tracing to expedite identification of the virus in suspect casepatients. These projections quantify the importance of the identi cation, isolation, and contact tracing processes for containment of the epidemics. Emergency guideline implementation and management of. Standard operating procedures for contact tracing and follow. The largest recorded ebola virus disease epidemic began in march 2014. Pdf addressing contact tracing challenges critical to halting. Privacyoriented contact tracing protocols for epidemics.
Contact tracing performance during the ebola epidemic in. Use of a mobile application for ebola contact tracing and monitoring. The graphics again reveal that an identificationisolation rate is required for containing the epidemic. It is discovered through conversations with the roommate that the patients brother, in sierra leone died from ebola. Contact tracing is one of the tools to effectively break chains of transmission and control evd outbreaks. Feasibility of controlling covid19 outbreaks by isolation.
A national plan to enable comprehensive covid19 case finding. When is contact tracing not enough to stop an outbreak. Emergency guideline implementation and management of contact. Contact tracing aims to identify and monitor contacts of known ebola cases in order to isolate and investigate them for ebola as early as possible if they become ill. Pdf modeling contact tracing in outbreaks with application. This model can be modified to reflect updated transmission characteristics and more. Contact tracing was a core surveillance activity in the 20142016 epidemic 5, 6. Evaluation of contact tracing activities during the ebola. Health emergency information and risk assessment page who health emergency program 2 date of issue. Contact tracing following outbreak of ebola virus disease in urban settings in nigeria article pdf available in pan african medical journal 27suppl 1 may 2017 with 417 reads. Contact tracing was identified as one of the main weaknesses of the response to the ebola outbreak which began in december 20 and mainly affected guinea, liberia and sierra leone. Author summary contact tracing is one of the key response actions necessary for controlling spread of ebola virus disease evd.
The probability of control decreases with long delays from symptom onset to isolation, fewer cases ascertained by contact tracing, and increasing transmission before symptoms. Introductioncontact tracing is a critical strategy required for timely prevention and control of ebola virus disease evd outbreaks. Ebola case and contact investigation in west virginia. Addressing contact tracing challengescritical to halting. Document id, ebola document name, ebola document description. An ebola contact tracing application called ect app was developed to manage the communication between contact tracing coordinators and contact. Ebola is an enveloped virus and is susceptible to hospitalgrade disinfectants but may. Describe the contact tracing process and the importance of its role in stopping the chain of transmission of ebola virus disease evd. Role of contact tracing in containing the 2014 ebola outbreak. Contact tracing is an important control strategy for containing ebola epidemics. Vomiting, diarrhoea and rash usually follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. Pdf modeling contact tracing in outbreaks with application to. Figure 2 contact tracing activities during the ebola virus.
Contact tracing in the ebola epidemic is defined as the systematic process of identification, assessment, and management of people who have been exposed to ebola virus to prevent further transmission of the agent. The 2014 ebola outbreak in west africa raised many questions about the control of infectious disease in an increasingly connected global society. Contact tracing is the accepted method for public health control of infectious diseases 2 and has been the. The contact tracing parameters and are varied in a sensitivity analysis, while all the other contact tracing parameters are held constant.
Contact tracing is called pivotal in fighting ebola the. Ebola contact tracing operations used paperbased systems. Contact tracing procedures pdf, word 1212015contact tracing investigation documents. Contact tracing involves locating all persons who have been exposed to someone infected with ebola virus casepatients or their body fluids and monitoring them daily for evd symptoms during the 3 weeks after the last exposure.
Implementation and management of contact tracing for ebola. Implementation and management of contact tracing for ebola virus. Texas contact tracing identifies 50 for ebola fever. Contact tracing is defined as the identification and followup of persons who may have come into contact with an infected person. Results show less than one third of casepatients 28. Challenges with paperbased contact tracing systems include incomplete identification of contacts, delays in communication and response, loss of contact lists, inadequate data collection and transcription errors. Frontiers contact tracing during an outbreak of ebola virus. Seir model for ebola virus by incorporating contact tracing in the model and applied it to 2014 sierra leone, liberia, and guinea ebola epidemics. A model of the 2014 ebola epidemic in west africa with contact tracing. Contact tracing is defined as the identification and follow up of persons who may have. Contact tracing is called pivotal in fighting ebola the new.
Field action report introduction of mobile health tools to support ebola surveillance and contact tracing in guinea jilian a sacks,a elizabeth zehe,a cindil redick,a alhoussaine bah,b kai cowger,b mamady camara,c aboubacar diallo,c abdel nasser iro gigo,c ranu s dhillon,a,d,e anne liua an informatics system consisting of a mobile health application and business intelligence software was. Introduction of mobile health tools to support ebola surveillance. Global stability of ebola virus disease model with contact. The information contained in this document is based on a guidance document entitled, contact tracing during an outbreak of ebola virus disease, developed by the disease surveillance and response programme area of the disease prevention and control cluster of the who african region afro. This should prevent any further transmission and allow those who are ill to get care early, which is likely to improve the disease outcome. Nc communicable disease manual ebola contact tracing. Description bikoro iboko wangata total cases new suspected 0 0 0 0 new probable 0 0 0 0 new confirmed 0 0 0 0.
Contact tracing is comprised of several different activities. Contact tracing performance during the ebola virus disease. In the current ebola epidemic, contact tracing has been uniquely challenging due to the sheer. Contact tracing during an outbreak of ebola virus disease in. Feasibility of controlling covid19 outbreaks by isolation of. Contact tracing is how to stop ebola in its tracks and some folks believe a key to that is using mobile phones for ebola contact tracing. Contacts are watched for signs of illness for 21 days from the last day they came in contact with the ebola patient. Contact tracing teams working on the response to the texas ebola case have identified 50 people for 21day fever monitoring, but only 10 of them had highrisk exposure, texas health officials announced today, along with news that hazmat teams have started cleaning the home but face some roadblocks in transporting contaminated items. The main purpose of contact tracing is to identify new potential cases among close contacts of known ebola cases as early as possible in their disease course. Pdf contact tracing is an important control strategy for containing ebola epidemics. Contact tracing in an ebola virus disease evd outbreak is the process of identifying individuals who may have been exposed to infected persons with the virus, followed by monitoring for 21 days the maximum incubation period from the date of the most recent exposure. Contact tracing is a critical strategy required for timely prevention and control of ebola virus disease evd outbreaks.
What contact tracing questions would you ask this patient. Describe how to manage contact tracing after its initiation. The video demonstrates how even one missed contact can keep ebola spreading and that careful tracing of contacts and isolating new cases can stop the outbreak. Cdc has continuously emphasized the importance of contact tracing as the single most effective tool for containing imported ebola cases 7. This is called contact tracing, and is a core public health function. Challenges identified in previous epidemics include incomplete. Ebola virus table top exercise colorado hospital association.
As part of response and preparedness training, cdc supported development of national and local contact tracing guidelines and provided contact tracing training, particularly for rapid response teams. We examined contact tracing activities during september 20december 31, 2014, in 2 prefectures of guinea using national and local data about casepatients and their contacts. Nc communicable disease manual ebola contact tracing documents. Ebola case and contact investigation in west virginia maria del rosario, md, mph danae bixler, md, mph division of infectious disease epidemiology. Oct 15, 2014 the video describes contact tracing, a method used by cdc and partners to identify new ebola cases quickly and isolate patients as soon as they show symptoms, preventing spread to others.
Ebola virus disease contact tracing activities, lessons. An outbreak of ebola virus disease occurred in nigeria between july and september 2014. Introduction of mobile health tools to support ebola. Addressing contact tracing challengescritical to halting ebola virus.
Contact tracing can stop infectious disease outbreaks floridahealth. Keywords used in the search included ebola virus disease, westafrica, contact tracing, world health organization. Limited availability of contact information has made contact tracing difficult or impractical in combating the outbreak. Contact tracing is finding everyone who comes in direct contact with a sick ebola patient. The longest and deadliest ebola epidemic in history.
Timely and effective contact tracing is essential to halting transmission. From a theoretical perspective, explicitly incorporating contact tracing with disease dynamics presents challenges. Beyond contact tracing new england complex systems institute. From a theoretical perspective, explicitly incorporating contact. Therefore, it is important to identify and isolate symptomatic persons immediately in order to stop the disease from spreading. The initial medical response to ebola in 2014 focused on caring for individuals in hospital settings and using contact tracing as the primary preventative measure 1. Role of contact tracing in containing the 2014 ebola. Persons who conduct contact tracing should have investigative skills to find and track all.
513 886 532 322 314 1184 33 1075 397 491 267 885 123 347 87 193 1140 1069 1177 714 25 20 981 723 226 621 1375 420 1189 1226 50 1072 590 805 1469 1371 5 746 331 174 590