Santé publique France monitors Ebola virus disease as part of the system for notifiable diseases.

Outside of periods of large-scale outbreaks in intertropical Africa, where the virus is endemic, the risk of Ebola cases being imported into France is very low. However, given the virus’s incubation period (between 2 and 21 days), it is possible that an infected person may not develop symptoms until after returning to France. Hospital resources and staff training enable the care of patients requiring isolation and daily contact precautions.

In the absence of a large-scale outbreak in areas where the virus is circulating, the diagnosis of Ebola virus infection should be considered as often as necessary:

• in any clinically suggestive case;
• in individuals returning from intertropical Africa or who, within 21 days prior to the onset of symptoms, have been in contact with another confirmed case or with the body fluids of a confirmed case.

Any suspected Ebola virus infection is subject to mandatory reporting of African hemorrhagic fevers, which must be reported without delay to the Regional Health Agency after:

• clinical and epidemiological validation by an infectious disease specialist;
• and evaluation by the National Reference Center for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers to determine the virological tests to be performed.

Surveillance partners:

CNR - Coordinating Laboratory

Pasteur Institute:
Director: Dr. Sylvain BAIZE
Tel.: 04 37 28 24 43
Email: sylvain.baize@pasteur.fr Deputy Director: Dr. Delphine PANNETIER
Tel.: 04 72 76 82 91
Address:
Institut Pasteur
, Unit of Emerging Viral Infections Biology (UBIVE)
, 21 Tony Garnier Avenue - 69365 Lyon Cedex 07
Secretariat: 04 37 28 24 40 - Fax: 04 37 28 24 41 - Email: cnr-fhv@pasteur.fr

CNR - Affiliated Laboratory

Inserm
Tel.: 04 72 76 82 91
Address:
Inserm US003
P4 Laboratory, Inserm Jean Mérieux
21, Avenue Tony Garnier - 69365 Lyon Cedex 07
Secretariat: 04 72 76 82 95 - Fax: 04 72 71 04 48

CNR Website on Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers

Santé publique France’s Response to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

During the 2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, France mobilized to provide, alongside its partners, an appropriate response to the situation. In addition to implementing enhanced surveillance and measures to limit the spread of the virus should a case be confirmed on French territory, Santé publique France also contributed to France’s response to the Ebola epidemic by publishing regular epidemiological updates, sending epidemiologists to the affected countries, and helping to train local teams and strengthen public health networks.

Support for the Training of Local Teams (PREPARE Project)

The Project to Support the Establishment of Eight Regional Multipurpose Epidemic Alert and Response Teams (PREPARE), which has now been completed, was co-financed by the European Union and France and aimed to train teams of 24 people per region in Guinea to form “anti-epidemic task forces.” As part of the broader effort to combat epidemics in general, and the Ebola virus epidemic in particular, PREPARE consisted of two components:

• strengthening the skills of team members;

• supporting the deployment and operations of the teams.

The project unfolded in two phases:
An initial phase of training and deployment of local teams, from March to July 2015. As part of this effort, Santé publique France contributed to the epidemiological training of multidisciplinary teams (doctors, biologists, community health workers, etc.). This two-day epidemiology training course covered, through theoretical lectures and case studies, epidemiological surveillance, early detection and warning systems, investigation—particularly active case finding—and contact tracing in the context of Ebola virus disease.
A second phase, from August 2015 to June 2016, focused on strengthening training and providing operational support to these teams through the implementation of a remote mentoring system, with senior epidemiologists from Santé publique France serving as mentors for Guinean regional epidemiologists.

Strengthening Networks (RIPOST Project—Network of National Public Health Institutes of West Africa)

The RIPOST project, a French initiative led by Expertise France and developed as part of the Ebola Task Force, aims to strengthen the capacities of French-speaking West African countries in the areas of epidemiological surveillance, health monitoring and early warning, operational research, and training.
To this end, it aims to facilitate networking among organizations with expertise in public health in order to improve information sharing and, ultimately, to assist health authorities in their decision-making.
Santé publique France is a member of the project’s Steering Committee, alongside the French Development Agency (AFD), the Center for Epidemiology and Public Health of the Armed Forces (CESPA), and the Pasteur Institutes Network, among others. It participates in exploratory field missions.

The RIPOST project’s activities are carried out in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO), the West African Health Organization (WAHO), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta).