Florida Department of Health in St. Lucie County’s Epidemiology Program (FDOH- St. Lucie EPI) has been working very diligently on strengthening our communication web with community partners. If you or your facility’s contact is on the distribution list for EPIsodes, our monthly newsletter, you have already been receiving updated guidances and tools designed to help identify possible cases of Ebola.

We are asking community partners including medical offices, faith-based organizations, businesses, etc. to identify a point person for health alerts in our county. Please call FDOH- St. Lucie EPI directly and provide your point person’s name, phone/fax numbers, and very importantly an email address so you can receive timely health alert notices or warnings.

FDOH- St. Lucie EPI’s number is (772) 462-3883 during regular business hours. Due to the number of calls we have been receiving, please leave a message if it is not urgent. Please be sure to speak clearly and slowly, spell your name and repeat your phone number to prevent miscommunications.

If you have a serious concern and would like to report a possible Ebola case, following are the phone numbers to use for disease reporting.

FDOH- St. Lucie’s Epidemiology Program (772) 462-3883 Monday - Friday 8am-5pm

Or

(772) 462-3800 For after regular business hours, weekends and holidays (ask for the nurse on call to report a disease)

Or

FDOH Bureau of Epidemiology (850) 245-4401

Ebola

The Florida Department of Health is actively monitoring the status of the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa and the information about the first Ebola case diagnosed in the U.S.

Each county health department has regular communication and interaction with hospitals, medical providers and laboratories to ensure that appropriate reporting and public health action can be taken when necessary.

People with recent travel history to the affected regions who are experiencing symptoms such as fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea and vomiting should mention their travel history to the medical professional who is evaluating them.

Please refer to the CDC's Ebola Outbreak site to see which countries/areas have been affected. https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/distribution-map.html#areas.

If a patient with Ebola virus disease were to be diagnosed in Florida, the Department would work closely with healthcare partners to ensure appropriate patient care, protocols for isolation, infection control and the assessment of risk to relevant individuals.

The Florida Department of Health works regularly with healthcare providers across the state and has distributed guidance for assessment and testing of suspect Ebola virus disease cases statewide.

Links:

Florida⁄CDC HAN 10/2/2014
Ebola screening tool
Ebola Flyer
Ebola Flyer-Spanish
Ebola testing and monitoring decision algorithm
DOH Newsroom — Ebola Please see Ebola link at bottom of page.

Current list of countries⁄areas affected by outbreak