Managing the Ebola crisis

The World Health Organization recently issued a warning that the current Ebola outbreak represents “the most severe, acute health emergency seen in modern times.”

Indeed, the expanding Ebola outbreak in Africa is rapidly evolving into an international health and humanitarian crisis with an estimated 10,000 new cases appearing per week. Each new case represents new challenges and the increased risk of infection for the front line health-care workers treating Ebola patients. There have already been a number of documented cases of transmission from patients to health-care workers—both in North America and abroad—despite the advantages offered by modern health-care facilities in developed countries.

To help prepare and reduce the risk to health-care workers, University of Manitoba researchers Dr. Duane Funk and Dr. Anand Kumar have recently published a review article “Ebola virus disease: an update for anesthesiologists and intensivists” in the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia outlining techniques for clinicians to safely treat Ebola patients and the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE) for all patient contact.

“Ebola virus is a serious and often fatal disease. It is highly probable that a case will occur in Canada,” says Funk, assistant professor of Anesthesia, College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba. “This paper will allow clinicians to have the most up-to-date information available to help manage the disease. It covers all aspects of the disease, including virology, history, diagnosis, treatment (including experimental therapies), and protecting health-care workers from contracting the disease.”

The review article will be published in the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia online on November 5 and in print in January, 2015. While the review article provides a comprehensive overview of Ebola for anesthesiologists and intensivists, it is also targeted towards most health-care workers, including general medical and nursing personnel, as well as emergency room staff.
The publication of this review article was supported by the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Manitoba and is being made available worldwide as an Open Access paper.

For more information and to arrange interviews, contact Ilana Simon, Director of Communications & Marketing, College of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, 204-789-3427, (cell) 204-295-6777 or ilana [dot] simon [at] med [dot] umanitoba [dot] ca.