CDC Throws Up a Red Flag Over Ebola Concerns

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an Official Health Advisory to urge U.S. clinicians to include Ebola virus disease (EVD) in their differential diagnoses for patients presenting with fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms, and unexplained bleeding. The advisory also recommends taking a detailed travel history for such patients. There is an active outbreak occurring within five districts in Uganda, but at present there have been no suspected, probable, or confirmed cases of EVD in the U.S. According to the CDC, there are no direct flights from Uganda to the U.S., so potential EVB patients could be arriving from any number of nations on flights that did originate in Uganda. Patients with EVD are not contagious until symptoms appear. The virus is transmitted through direct contact with body fluids from a person who is sick or who has died from EVD. The CDC urges providers who have concerns about a patient to contact their state,  local, tribal, or territorial health department immediately.