TMCnet News
Officials: Area's risk of Ebola 'extremely low,' but they are preparing nonetheless [Beaver County Times, Pa.](Beaver County Times (PA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 18--PITTSBURGH -- Officials from Allegheny County's health department, emergency services and the airport authority gathered Friday to discuss preparedness if Ebola were to arrive in the area. In a statement, health department Director Dr. Karen Hacker said there is "relatively low risk" that an outbreak of the virus will occur here, but she pointed out that there are Pennsylvania residents currently being monitored in Texas. "The Ebola risk is being contained," Hacker said, "but as we do with any public health issue, we are doing our due diligence to ensure that we are prepared in the event that a suspected or confirmed case of the virus is in our region." On its website, the Pennsylvania Department of Health says it is monitoring the situation closely in the United States and abroad. Officials are in communication with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, county and municipal health departments across the state, and health facilities and providers to ensure preparedness and response efforts are coordinated. Hacker said her department also has been working with national, state and local agencies since late September to keep preparedness at the highest level. "We continue to share information, review policies and protocols, make changes or additions as we learn more and are focused on ensuring that we have done everything we can to protect the public should we see a suspected or confirmed case of the virus here," Hacker said. The county health department and Allegheny County Emergency Services also adopted a screening tool Friday, developed with help from the CDC, the Allegheny County 911 medical director and the EMS division chief, that call-takers may use on medical calls to provide information to emergency responders. "Beginning today, our call-takers will be completing additional questioning on medical calls so that, if appropriate, they can determine whether there may be a risk of Ebola," emergency services Chief Alvin Henderson said. Ebola is not spread through the air or by being near someone who has the virus. It can be spread only by directly touching an infected person's skin, blood or body fluids, and patients are contagious only after they begin to have symptoms, according to the state and county health departments. Symptoms of the potentially fatal virus may appear from two to 21 days after exposure and include fever, severe headache, muscle and abdominal pain, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting and unexplained bleeding or bruising. Lawmakers across the country and locally have been calling for travel restrictions on the West African nations currently affected by the Ebola outbreak. "The federal government must take every available precaution to prevent the further spread of Ebola and to protect the American people," U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-12, Sewickley, said Friday. "That should include restricting travel from West African nations affected by Ebola." U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-18, Upper St. Clair Township, who chaired a House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing Thursday on Ebola, also listed travel restrictions among his recommendations on the situation. "Keeping an open-door travel policy that relies on an honor system is deeply troubling to Americans because, as we've seen with the known U.S. cases of Ebola infection, the screening, self-monitoring and self-reporting at airports have been demonstrated failures and put Americans at risk," Murphy said in a statement Friday. Currently, travelers are being screened before they leave the outbreak-affected countries and when they arrive in the United States at some international airports and other ports of entry. Pittsburgh International Airport is not on the list, but airport authority Acting Executive Director Jim Gill said employees are still prepared to implement different protocols and to look out for sick travelers. "Our actions in response to the Ebola virus are not brand new. These actions are similar to those we have taken in response to H1N1, SARS, bird flu and other illnesses," Gill said. "We have emergency plans and incident response plans in place and continue to review those in cooperation with the health department and emergency services to ensure that they are responsive to what we know about public health risks." Also on Friday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, met with doctors and specialists from UPMC facilities in Pittsburgh to discuss planning for the current situation and to push increased funding for hospital preparedness. ___ (c)2014 the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.) Visit the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.) at www.timesonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |