Sunday, January 29, 2023
News on Pathogens and Preparedness
Global Biodefense
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe
No Result
View All Result
Global Biodefense
No Result
View All Result
Home Biosecurity

CDC Grant for Sustained, Improved Infection Control in Liberia

by Global Biodefense Staff
April 24, 2015
Ebola Response Workers in PPE

Credit: Nahid Bhadelia/CDC

Credit: Nahid Bhadelia/CDC

The Centers for Disease Control is awarding a grant to the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Academic Consortium Combating Ebola in Liberia (ACCEL) to support sustained strengthening of infection prevention and control, laboratory and blood services in Liberian hospitals and clinics as they reopen following the Ebola crisis.

Throughout the outbreak, health care workers have been of the highest risk groups for contracting Ebola with over 360 cases and 170 fatalities reported in this high-risk group in Liberia alone.

As the number of EVD cases drops and regular health services resume, health care workers must remain vigilant to ensure that they are able to appropriately triage suspected EVD patients while protecting themselves from possible exposure and to provide adequate care for non-EVD illnesses.

This award will implement comprehensive Infection Prevention Control (IPC) training, as well as support monitoring for Health Care Workers across Liberia.

The project also focuses on strengthening public health laboratory capacity through the provision of the equipment, consumables, mentoring and training for laboratory technicians needed to strengthen laboratory testing capacity.

This strengthened capacity will ensure more rapid diagnosis for EVD and other common illnesses in hospital laboratories thus improving overall care. A major challenge has been differentiating the diagnosis of Ebola which has non-specific initial symptoms such fever, vomiting, diarrhea from more common everyday diseases such as malaria, viral illnesses, or complicated pregnancy.

PCR testing and other diagnostics within the hospital laboratory setting can play a crucial role in allowing patients with Ebola to be isolated for care more rapidly and to improve care for all patients.

Finally, this program will also support strengthening blood transfusion services for Liberia by providing training and direct technical assistance to improve blood collection and storage processes. These improvements will increase the availability of life saving transfusions for those in need.

According to the CDC, UMass/ACCEL is the only organization currently operating in Liberia with the technical expertise to execute the laboratory, transfusion and infection control activities required under this cooperative agreement.

UMass/ACCEL has been operating in Liberia for seven years. They have the knowledge of the country’s laws and customs as well as the relationships with key governmental stakeholders and partners to execute this work in the rapid fashion that is demanded when addressing an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak of this scale.

Currently CDC is working in collaboration with UMass/ACCEL by providing technical assistance on the activities they are conducting through a grant they received from the Paul Allen Foundation. This new cooperative agreement would allow CDC to conduct much need Ebola response activities with a trusted partner currently operating in Liberia addressing this epidemic.

Tags: AwardsBiosafetyEbola

Related Posts

Partner Therapeutics’ Novel Approach to Stratify Sepsis Patients Gains Backing From BARDA
Funding News

Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment (BRaVE) Initiative Backed by $105M DOE Funding

January 25, 2023
DARPA Pursues Advanced Threat-Detection for Crop Defense
Biosecurity

DARPA Pursues Advanced Threat-Detection for Crop Defense

January 3, 2023
Much of the CDC is Working Remotely. That Could Make Changing the Agency Difficult.
Policy + Initiatives

Much of the CDC is Working Remotely. That Could Make Changing the Agency Difficult.

December 7, 2022
Study: Cash Incentives and Lotteries Do Little to Increase Adult Vaccinations
Medical Countermeasures

Study: Cash Incentives and Lotteries Do Little to Increase Adult Vaccinations

October 25, 2022
Load More

Latest News

Partner Therapeutics’ Novel Approach to Stratify Sepsis Patients Gains Backing From BARDA

Biopreparedness Research Virtual Environment (BRaVE) Initiative Backed by $105M DOE Funding

January 25, 2023
Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

Influenza Proteins Tilt and Wave in ‘Breath-like’ Motions

January 25, 2023
Biodefense Headlines – 24 January 2023

Biodefense Headlines – 24 January 2023

January 24, 2023
Biodefense Headlines – 17 January 2023

Biodefense Headlines – 17 January 2023

January 17, 2023

Subscribe

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC

No Result
View All Result
  • Featured
  • COVID-19
  • Funding
  • Directory
  • Jobs
  • Events
  • Subscribe

© 2022 Stemar Media Group LLC