State Health Officials continue to prepare for the possibility that a patient with the Ebola virus could arrive at a New Hampshire health facility.
Deputy state epidemiologist Elizabeth Talbot says experts are working with hospitals, EMTs, primary care doctors, even pharmacists, through webinars, training videos, and the state’s multifaceted health alert system.
“We are all coming to terms with the fact that as long as this outbreak is going on in West Africa and the U.S. borders remain open, we are at risk to import a patient with Ebola,” Talbot says, “so this may be the new normal for quite a few months.”
The state is also preparing to distribute personal protective equipment packs necessary in the most contagious scenarios.
Talbot says while imported cases are possible in New Hampshire, an outbreak such as has transpired in West Africa is very unlikely. She says only those who have traveled to West Africa personally are at risk.