The Trump administration has appointed two new pandemic response officials as the country faces multiple infectious disease threats, Bloomberg reported July 1.
The change comes amid the growing Ebola outbreak, a New World screwworm outbreak threatening U.S. cattle and the recently ended hantavirus quarantine.
Here are seven things to know.
1. Sara Brenner, MD, a physician and former official at the FDA, is director of the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response — the first person to hold the title so far during President Donald Trump’s second term. White House officials told STAT that Dr. Brenner isn’t leading the administration’s pandemic responses, but was brought in as an additional body to help out.
2. The White House also brought in U.S. Public Health Service Officer Rachel Idowu, MD, to be director for bioresponse at the National Security Council. Dr. Idowu was part of the U.S. response during the 2014 Ebola outbreak.
3. Uganda told the World Health Organization it detected a Marburg virus disease case in the western part of the country. Marburg virus disease is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever caused by either Marburg virus or Ravn virus, according to the CDC. It belongs to the Filoviridae family — the same family as the Ebola virus — and has an average case fatality rate around 50%. It’s commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa and has symptoms similar to other tropical diseases. There are no treatments or vaccines for Marburg. The Marburg case could complicate efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.
4. The Ugandan government told WHO it detected a Marburg outbreak, but has not publicly disclosed that, STAT reported. An unnamed source told STAT that the government has detected two cases of Marburg and that the outbreak appears to be localized. The Marburg infection was in an 18-month-old child who died of the virus, CIDRAP reported. On June 29, the U.S. embassy in Uganda issued a level 4 advisory alerting Americans not to travel to Uganda due to the case.
5. The Ebola outbreak — the third largest in history — has now reached 1,354 infections and 401 deaths in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
6. Congo is working to improve its contact tracing numbers, which has become difficult as several Ebola patients have escaped isolation. Authorities recently apprehended two contacts of an Ebola patient who fled to Haut-Uele province, which borders South Sudan and the Central African Republic. One of the contacts tested positive for Ebola and the other is awaiting confirmatory tests. Ebola has now been detected in four provinces.
7. A United Nations Development Programme assessment found the Ebola outbreak in Congo could push 985,000 more people into poverty and cost African economies up to $3.6 billion.
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