Ebola virus Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

CDC Approves WVU Hospitals to Treat Ebola

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention just took another step in helping the state cope with the threat of Ebola.

The CDC designated WVU Hospitals as one of forty-nine Ebola Treatment Centers in the U.S.

WVU Hospitals says in a news release that theirs is the only medical center in West Virginia to earn the designation. The nearest centers until now were in Washington D.C. and Cleveland.

The CDC also approved the Department of Health and Human Resources’ Office of Laboratory Services for Ebola testing.

That designation allows the lab to report and send samples to the CDC that are presumed to be positive for Ebola. The CDC would ultimately confirm positive results. The lab can also confirm that samples are negative for Ebola, without further testing. The release says results should typically be available within four to six hours.

To date, no Ebola cases have been reported in West Virginia.

Kanawha Health Officer: Response to Yeager Ebola Scare Was 'Coordinated' and 'Careful'

There were some tense moments at Yeager Airport last night. A flight from Atlanta was delayed on the tarmac after someone on the flight overheard a conversation about Ebola in Texas. Dr. Rahul Gupta, the health officer of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department described the scene on West Virginia Public Radio this morning.

“We were notified as were the airport authorities of a flight coming in from Atlanta that had several people on board but there was a complaint made because they overheard of somebody possibly coming from a Dallas hospital and questions were raised about the possibility of Ebola happening on the plane. We immediately dispatched our team, worked with the airport and several other partners and we realized what had happened. There was these four individuals that were actually just having a casual conversation and perhaps one individual was from Galveston which was misinterpreted possible as Dallas. They were all screened out. They were all fine. The flight was deplaned but it kind of points to the issue of panic in the population as such.

Beth Vorhees: “Is that an overreaction or a proper public health response given the events?” “Well we expect overreactions to occur in situations especially when there is this level of fear in the population across the nation . It is not unexpected. What needs to happen just like it did last night a coordinated, careful approach and response to calm the fears of the population as well as manage and screen out the people if need to be.”

Are W. Va. Hospitals Prepared for Ebola?

On West Virginia Morning, the health officer of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department joins Beth Vorhees to talk about hospital preparations to handle contagious diseases. And part 2 of Roxy Todd’s report about a special heirloom cornmeal that one chef uses for his Italian polenta. A report from the kitchen.