How ready is the U.S. for an Ebola outbreak?

The American healthcare worker flown to Nebraska to be monitored following an Ebola exposure while working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was a reminder that high-consequence pathogens, such as Ebola virus disease, are just a flight away, according to an article on Contagion Live website.

Are we better off than we were in 2014? Somewhat, the article said.

Administrators from 368 hospitals around the United States were recently surveyed hospital preparedness across the United States for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). Ten of the facilities were Special Pathogens Centers.      

Fourteen percent of administrators felt their facilities were unprepared for a patient with Ebola or an EID. as a point of comparison, 71 percentage of hospital administrators reported that their facilities were unprepared to receive an Ebola patient in 2014. Many administrators who felt prepared; however, noted that their resources would be strained should they receive a patient infected with Ebola. 

Read the article.