Identifying and Addressing the Daily Needs of Contacts of an Ebola Patient During Investigation, Monitoring, and Movement Restriction, Ohio.

An essential element of Ebola control involves monitoring and movement restrictions for people who come into contact with an Ebola patient while the patient is infectious. Although procedures can vary by local regulations, monitoring and movement restrictions for Ebola contacts normally last for 21 days after the last exposure to the infectious patient. Contact monitoring and movement restrictions allow for early identification of disease to prevent further transmission. However, movement restrictions also limit a contact’s ability to meet some of his or her own daily living needs. Ensuring that measures and processes are in place to provide for these needs is an important component of implementing movement restrictions. Stigmatization of contacts because of community fears creates an additional need for supports. A previous report of a related Ebola investigation in Texas described the needs of Ebola contacts, including basic needs for food, financial assistance, and education. In that investigation, health officials found that meeting the needs of Ebola contacts was essential to successful contact monitoring. Providing for the daily needs of people whose movement is restricted during an outbreak response is not new to public health. This need was noted during the typhus and cholera epidemics in New York City in 1892 and during the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic in Taiwan and Canada in 2013, where affected individuals experienced uncomfortable surroundings, discrimination, uncertainty, and a need for family support. We discuss the importance of preparing for such daily needs and how the Ebola experience in Ohio adds to the Texas report to inform future situations in which movement restrictions are needed. The Ebola Experience in Ohio