![]() In September 2014, the IMS moved into an emergency operations center, a location for coordination and oversight of all operations. The IMS ensured streamlined management, clear authority and accountability, structured working groups, and operational follow-up. In late July 2014, supported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), WHO, and other partners, the Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) implemented an Incident Management System (IMS) with an incident manager devoted exclusively to Ebola ( 14). The government of Liberia initially set up a diverse Ebola Task Force, whose large size and organizational challenges handicapped its effectiveness. UNMIL, United Nations Mission in Liberia. Organizational flowchart for Ebola response Incident Management System, Liberia Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), August 2014. We describe the Ebola experience in Liberia and draw conclusions relevant to future responsiveness.įigure 2. Liberia was again declared free of Ebola on Septem( 13). However, on June 29, 2015, a postmortem diagnosis of Ebola was made for a 17-year-old boy, and 5 other cases were subsequently confirmed, but no further spread was noted. ![]() Ten months later, on May 9, 2015, WHO declared Liberia free of Ebola virus transmission ( 12). On August 4, 2014, the US ambassador to Liberia declared a disaster on August 6, the president of Liberia declared a state of emergency and on August 8, the World Health Organization (WHO) called Ebola in West Africa a public health emergency of international concern ( 11). Events in Liberia drew widespread attention to Ebola as a threat to global health security ( 5) including urbanization of the disease first-ever infections in expatriate health workers ( 6) international spread to Nigeria, the United States, and Spain with secondary transmission ( 7– 9) and mathematical model estimates of a future high case load ( 10). Additional cases in May and June heralded the country’s severe outbreak ( 4). In Liberia, Ebola virus disease was first reported from Lofa County on March 30, 2014, a week after cases in Guinea had been reported ( 1– 3) ( Figure 1). ELWA, Eternal Love Winning Africa EOC, emergency operations center ETU, Ebola treatment unit JFK, John Fitzgerald Kennedy MoD, Ministry of Defense. Locations of Ebola case-patients and associated facilities, Liberia, 2014–2015. Priorities after the epidemic include surveillance in case of resurgence, restoration of health services, infection control in healthcare settings, and strengthening of basic public health systems.įigure 1. Essential components of the response included government leadership and sense of urgency, coordinated international assistance, sound technical work, flexibility guided by epidemiologic data, transparency and effective communication, and efforts by communities themselves. Liberia had by then reported 10,672 cases of Ebola and 4,808 deaths, 37.0% and 42.6%, respectively, of the 28,103 cases and 11,290 deaths reported from the 3 countries that were heavily affected at that time. However, another 6 cases occurred during June–July on September 3, 2015, the country was again declared free of Ebola. ![]() On May 9, 2015, the World Health Organization declared Liberia free of Ebola, 42 days after safe burial of the last known case-patient. The severe epidemic of Ebola virus disease in Liberia started in March 2014.
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