Bolstering Community Cooperation in Ebola Resurgence Protocols: Combining Field Blood Draw and Point-of-Care Diagnosis

Background On May 9, 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Liberia to be free of known Ebola virus transmission following a 14-month epidemic that resulted in nearly 4,800 deaths within Liberia alone [1]. Since this declaration, three Ebola resurgences have occurred in Liberia (June 2015, November 2015, March 2016), and others have occurred in Sierra Leone (January 2016) and Guinea (March 2016). Sustainable expansion of phlebotomy and laboratory capacity should involve training on safety measures related to infection prevention and control to determine and maintain standards that are acceptable to authorities, response workers, and community members. [...]possible differences in opinion regarding the use of basic versus full PPE in field blood draw, for instance, could be addressed ahead of new resurgences.