On November 25, 2014, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a health alert network (HAN) broadcast regarding Ebola screening for travelers from Mali.
Click here to view the HAN message with background information and guidance, or cut and paste this URL into your browser:
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/HAN%20update%20-%20Ebola%20Mali%20Screening%20Nov252014.pdf.
Key points are:
- Since November 10, CDC has been working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners in response to reports of a cluster of Ebola cases in Bamako, Mali. Public health authorities in Mali and Guinea are actively investigating a number of confirmed cases of Ebola in Mali in recent days.
- Clinicians and triage staff should ask about travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea OR MALI (in West Africa) in the past 21 days for any patient experiencing fever or other symptoms of Ebola (severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, or unexplained hemorrhage), and ask about exposure to persons with Ebola.
- Effective Monday, November 17, people arriving into the United States whose travel began in Mali are subject to the same enhanced entry screening activities, including health and Ebola exposure assessments that are already in place for travelers from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
- All travelers entering the United States from Mali are subject to the 21-day active post-arrival monitoring and movement protocols now in effect for travelers from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, with twice-daily temperature and symptom checks performed by local public health authorities.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: CDC reference materials have been updated with this new screening information. Identify, Isolate, Inform: Emergency Department Evaluation and Management for Patients Who Present with Possible Ebola Virus Disease:
http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/hcp/ed-management-patients-possible-ebola.html.
This blog publishes information typically sent to users of the Colorado Health Facilities Interactive (COHFI) system for health care entities regulated by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Please note that COHFI is the official medium for business communication between the Department and licensed and/or Medicare/Medicaid certified health care entities. Health care entities should continue to monitor their email accounts routinely.
