Sen. Sherrod Brown has told the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that they need to be ready to provide a team of infection experts in Ohio after news that a second nurse in Dallas tested positive for Ebola after spending nearly a week in Northeast Ohio.
"The CDC must dedicate immediate resources to organize monitoring services in Northeast Ohio," Brown told WBNS-10TV. "This includes close coordination with Ohio health officials and medical facilities, tracking and monitoring of Ohioans who may have been in contact with the patient, and the readying and potential deployment of infection experts to Ohio."
Brown today sent the request in a letter to both CDC Director Thomas Frieden and Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell.
Among Brown's requests:
1) Identifying and locating all persons the individual had contact with while in Northeast Ohio to track, monitor, and - if necessary - isolate anyone who shows any sign of symptoms;
2) Communicating with Frontier Airlines and the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE) to locate any passengers that may have had contact with the individual, notify them, and work with their state and local public health agencies to ensure they are tracked and monitored for any potential symptoms;
3) Contacting the appropriate state and local public health officials in Ohio to ensure that they are informed about the latest protocols and educating all health care professionals so that they are aware of the most effective and up-to-date agency-approved protocol for personal monitoring and travel before, during, and after contact with an infected individual;
4) Partnering with the Ohio Hospital Association and Ohio Department of Health to ensure that all Ohio hospitals and health care facilities, particularly those in Northeast Ohio, are aware of the most up-to-date protocol for handling Ebola symptoms and have immediate access to state of the art protective equipment in the unlikely event that Ohioans show symptoms of the disease;
5) Ensuring that the Ohio Department of Health, health care professionals, and the general public are aware of the Ebola resources developed by the CDC;
6) Working with the Ohio Department of Health to conduct initial Ebola testing for any individuals who show symptoms of the disease, with swift follow-up confirmation testing done by the CDC; and
7) Keeping a team of infection experts ready to go to Ohio to help should a case occur.
The CDC is currently trying to track down all 132 passengers on Frontier Airlines Flight 1143 that flew from Cleveland to Dallas/Ft Worth on Monday.
