As you know, the news coverage from Dallas and West Africa has heightened community concerns about Ebola. Public Health has been actively working to provide information and guidance to King County residents, health care providers, and partner agencies. They also want all King County employees to be up-to-date with information and resources about Ebola.

First, it’s important to know that no one in King County has Ebola and  health officials have determined that the risk of an outbreak is extremely low. Although the healthcare system is getting ready to quickly identify and isolate anyone who potentially has Ebola, there are no immediate plans for any Ebola patients to be evacuated to King County hospitals.

Public Health is sending regular updates to health care providers and providing guidance on managing possible Ebola patients. In the event that someone in King County contracted Ebola, that patient would be isolated and cared for at a hospital. Hospitals in Washington and across the U.S. are well equipped to care for a person with Ebola by following normal infection control procedures.

We may never see a case of Ebola here in King County, but if we do, Public Health’s years of experience in managing infections like H1N1 and SARS, along with our day-to-day preparedness work with the healthcare system, have put them in a very good place to handle the situation.

Key information about how Ebola spreads:

• It is far less contagious than the flu, measles, and many other communicable diseases.
• A person infected with Ebola virus is not contagious until symptoms appear.
• The virus is spread through direct contact (through broken skin or unprotected mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose or mouth) with the blood or body fluids (such as urine, feces, saliva, semen) of a person who is sick with Ebola, or with objects like needles that have been contaminated with the virus, or infected animals.
• Ebola is not spread through the air or by water or by food.

The high concern about Ebola has resulted in requests for information and guidance from community partners, the general public, healthcare providers and others. To help you stay informed about Ebola, Public Health has developed an Ebola web page. And by familiarizing yourself with these materials you’ll be prepared to provide good information to community members who may come to you with questions or concerns. This webpage is updated frequently, so check it often. The CDC Ebola website also is a great resource and contains additional information and background on the outbreak in West Africa: http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/