It is likely that the contaminated, home-grown maize implicated in the outbreak entered the market distribution system when local farmers sold a portion of their farm household stores to market vendors.
Liberian soldiers have set up a blockade stopping people from western regions affected by the Ebola outbreak from entering the capital, Monrovia.
We therefore believe that the LPHA managing an institutional outbreak should enter directly all outbreak-related data into the surveillance system.
"We don't want any Ebola outbreak to enter here," he stated firmly.
Congo health minister Oly Ilunga Kalenga said the outbreak had entered a "new phase," after the virus was confirmed in the northwestern city of Mbandaka, home to some 1.2 million people.
All the relevant pieces from these two sources – between October 13 2000, when the first reports of a "strange disease" appeared, and February 27 2001, when the epidemic was officially declared over – were cut out on a day-by-day basis as the outbreak unfolded, entered onto computer, and the originals filed.
Most respondents (26/31, 84%), reported that technical issues with the NORS system did not prevent them from entering outbreak reports; only 2 respondents reported that >10% of outbreaks were not entered because of technical issues.
Fukuda says that the International Health Regulations a new set of rules to deal with outbreaks that entered into force in 2007 require a review of how his agency handled the situation as well.
Most respondents (36/43, 84%) assigned a high priority to entering foodborne disease outbreak data, rating outbreak reporting as 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 indicated low priority and 5 high priority.
This was illustrated in the lead up to the simulated evacuation during a major 2008 exercise based on an Auckland Volcanic Field eruption, Exercise Ruaumoko, when civil authorities wanted to know when the 48 hour 'time window' before outbreak had been entered (Lindsay et al. 2010).
