Gates Package — page 52

Details on Federal Agency Roles in the U.S. Response to the Ebola virus disease Outbreak 'The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) USAID is leading the international response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. In August, USAID deployed a Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) to the region to coordinate and prioritize the U.S. government's response to the outbreak, The DART assesses and identifies priority needs and coordinates key areas of the response, such as planning, operations, and logistics, The 28-member DART team comprises staff from USAID, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Defense (DoD), and the U.S. Forest Servic The DART has airlifted more than 16 tons of medical supplies and emergency equipment to West Africa, including personal protective equipment, water treatment units, portable water tanks, body bags, infrared thermometers, and plastic sheeting to be used in the construction of treatment units, The DART is also in the process of procuring generators that will provide electricity to Ebola treatment units and other response facilities, In addition, USAID is supporting a Community Care Campaign, which will provide communities and households with protection kits, appropriate information and training on how to protect themselves and their loved ones. In partnership with the United Nations Children Fund, the Paul Allen Family Foundation, and other key partners, USAID is targeting the 400,000 most vulnerable households in Liberia, The package will subsequently be scaled to cover the country and the broader region. USAID also recently launched "Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development," with a call to innovators around the world to submit ideas focused on improving the tools used by frontline health care workers in the fight against Ebola in West Africa. 'The initial focus of the Challenge, as announced by President Obama on September 26, 2014, is to generate pioneering solutions to improve the personal protective equipment and tools used by health care workers battling Ebola, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Domestically, CDC has been working with state and local governments to strengthen health care and community preparedness for infectious diseases in general, and specifically improving readiness for identifying and responding to U.S. Ebola cases. Since the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was identified in March 2014, CDC has been working with domestic partners to anticipate and prepare for the first case of Ebola in the United States, To this end, CDC has been: Enhancing surveillance and laboratory testing capacity in states to detect cas © Developing guidance and tools for health departments to conduct public health investigations. Providing recommendations for health care infection control and other measures to prevent disease spread. © Providing guidance for flight crews, Emergency Medical Services units at airports, and Customs and Border Protection officers about reporting ill travelers to CDC.