Disaster Response

Ebola RNA was recovered from cleaned surfaces in a high isolation unit where a patient infected with the disease had been treated and discharged, researchers wrote in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. They said their findings underscore the importance of careful and extensive terminal disinfection.

“Currently, no studies have been published reporting [Ebola virus (EBOV)] transmission through the environment or through fomites, if not visibly contaminated with bodily fluids,” Vincenzo Puro, MD, of the Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases in Rome, and colleagues wrote. “However, guidelines strongly support a high level of precautions in environmental cleaning.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa no longer represents an international public-health emergency. But as experts also warned last week, there must be no let-up in improving readiness for the next Ebola outbreak — including the nightmare prospect of an epidemic in the megacities of Africa.

An expert panel of researchers convened by the London-based Wellcome Trust and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, warned in particular that support for Ebola vaccine research must not be allowed to slip. Although a successful experimental Ebola vaccine has been developed, much work remains to be done if safe and effective vaccines are to be ready in sufficient amounts to quickly nip future outbreaks in the bud.