Overview
- The World Health Organization has judged the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a very high public-health threat after hundreds of new Ebola infections were reported.
- A person with a possible Ebola infection is currently admitted at RadboudUMC in Nijmegen and the hospital has put infection-control measures in place.
- The Netherlands’ university medical centres are designated treatment hubs for high-consequence infections and are now scaling up specialist teams of intensivists, nurses and infectious-disease doctors.
- Experts including Joost Hopman say the risk of onward spread in the Netherlands is small because of long-standing training, but they stress the need for continued drills and readiness.
- Since the 2014 West Africa epidemic the UMC network has coordinated care with regional public-health services and general practitioners so specialised resources can be mobilised quickly.