Public Health Advisories & Notices

Recent advisories and notices from public health agencies and/or other organizations to help promote awareness among all health care providers.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Health Advisory on October 6, 2022, in response to a confirmed outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Uganda. This is the fifth outbreak of the Sudan virus since 2000. Uganda has confirmed a total of 44 cases since October 6, 2022.

There are no reported cases in the Unites the States or other countries. EVD is currently contained to only Uganda.

How to recognize an EVD infection

EVD symptoms include fever, headache, body aches and pains, weakness/tired, stomach/intestine symptoms, no appetite and bleeding.

EVD is contagious once a person has symptoms, but it is not spread through airborne particles such as COVID-19. It is spread through direct contact with body fluids of an infected person or animals or from those who died of EVD. Needles contaminated with EVD can also spread the disease.

What to do if a patient presents with EVD symptoms

If a patient has symptoms as described above, get a detailed travel history and put them in a private room during the clinical evaluation. Note: When conducting further testing for EVD, also consider testing for malaria.

Contact your health department immediately and follow the protocols for patient assessment to help prevent the spread of EVD. California clinicians can contact the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) at 916-328-3605, 24 hours a day.

An index of public health offices by county is available on the CDPH web site.

Is there a treatment for EVD?

Currently, there is no Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine to protect against the Sudan virus.

Without early diagnosis and supportive care, EVD has a high mortality rate. With intense supportive care and fluid replacement, mortality rates may be lowered.

Additional resources

More information about EVD, including clinical and laboratory considerations for specimen handling, can be found directly from the CDC's Health Advisory.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is closely monitoring monkeypox transition in the United States and California. Providers can visit the CDPH website for the latest guidance and an archive of CDPH monkey health advisories and updates.

CDPH is requesting the help of health care providers to notify their Local Health Department (LHD) immediately if you identify any persons with possible monkeypox. Visit LHD contact information (ca.gov).

How to identify monkeypox

The disease has flu-like symptoms (fever, chills) that last a few days, followed by a distinctive rash, and/or new lymphadenopathy. Note that perianal or genital lesions may occur without flu-like symptoms and may affect the face and extremities (including palms and soles), mucous membranes and genitalia.

More about the rash

The appearance and progression of the rash evolves from lesions with a flat base to slightly raised firm lesions, lesions filled with clear fluid, lesions filled with yellowish fluid, and crusts which dry up and fall off.

The rash can be confused with other diseases, especially in the genital or perianal areas (e.g., secondary syphilis, herpes, chancroid, molluscum contagiosum, and varicella zoster). Before testing for monkeypox, please rule out and test for the other more common causes of a rash.

Managing monkeypox

The current strain of monkeypox (West African clade) appears to be milder so most patients recover without medical intervention or can be managed in an outpatient setting. To find out more about antiviral therapy, available vaccines and to stay current as the situation evolves, visit the CDPH website.

Added resources

More information and resources for the evaluation, testing and infection control of monkeypox can be found by visiting the following links:

Providers can visit the Monkeypox (MPX) Resources for Providers page for additional information and guidance from the Plan in response to the current MPX situation.