- DHSS: Monkeypox Information
- Missouri State Public Health Laboratory: Rash Investigation Resources
- DHSS: Instructions for the Collection of Monkeypox Samples to the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory
- DHSS: Monkeypox Guidance for Health Care Providers

Infectious Diseases
Infectious diseases — most of which are preventable — disrupt the lives of millions of Americans each year.
New threats can arise quickly, and lapse in preparedness can leave communities unnecessarily vulnerable. Below are resources to help hospitals, health care coalitions, and other organizations prepare for and respond to the diseases that are currently a threat to our world.
Monkeypox
There currently is a global outbreak of monkeypox affecting multiple countries in which the disease is not endemic, including the U.S. Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. The Orthopoxvirus genus also includes variola virus (which causes smallpox), vaccinia virus (used in the smallpox vaccine) and cowpox virus.
Monkeypox is considered an immediately reportable disease in the State of Missouri. To report a suspected case, hospitals and clinics should contact their local public health agency or the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services’ Bureau of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention at 573-751-6113 or 800-392-0272 (24/7).
The Missouri State Public Health Laboratory will perform an orthopox test, and if it is confirmed positive, specimens will be submitted to the CDC for testing. Instructions for submitting specimens for testing are available.
Situational Awareness
Clinical Guidance
- NETEC: Monkeypox Outbreak Updates
- CDC: Information For Health Care Professionals
- CDC: Clinician FAQs
- CDC: Case Definitions†
- CDC: Clinical Recognition
- CDC HAN: Monkeypox Virus Infection in the U.S. and Other Non-endemic Countries
- WHO: Interim Rapid Response Guidance: Clinical Management and Infection Prevention and Control of Monkeypox
Testing
Treatment
- CDC: Treatment
- CDC: Guidance for Tecovirimat Use Under Expanded Access Investigational New Drug Protocol
- CDC: Monkeypox and Smallpox Vaccine Guidance
Reporting
- CDC: Infection Control Overview
- CDC: Infection Prevention and Control in Health Care Settings
- CDC: Monkeypox Response: Transmission
- CDC: Decontamination Guide for Smallpox (applicable to Monkeypox)
- CDC: Duration of Isolation Procedures
- CDC: Monitoring Persons Exposed
On-Demand Education
- CDC COCA: What Clinicians Need to Know about Monkeypox in the U.S. and Other Countries (5/24/22)
Fact Sheets
- CDC: Monkeypox: Get the Facts
- Nebraska Medicine: Monkeypox Fact Sheet
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports
Flu
Seasonal Influenza
Missouri health care partners continue to enhance preparedness and mitigation strategies regarding increased demands on the health care system during prevalent flu seasons. MHA partners with hospital staff, and state and local public health leadership to implement strategies for collecting and analyzing hospital information that could serve as an early indicator of potential resource constraints from increased flu activity.
Managing Seasonal Patient Surge
Regarding managing seasonal patient surge at health care facilities, ASPR TRACIE worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide the information included in HPP’s message about 1135 waivers and temporary surge sites. Additionally, ASPR TRACIE, along with multiple subject matter experts, developed Considerations for the Use of Temporary Care Locations for Managing Seasonal Patient Surge, which describes the major issues health care facility emergency planners must consider when determining patient surge management solutions for longer-duration events, such as weeks to months of managing seasonal illness surge.
For more information:
Ebola
Based on current guidance for evaluating persons with Ebola, if an individual is found to be at risk, then the specified infection control measures must immediately be instituted, and hospital leadership, along with state and local public health officials, must immediately be notified. It is very important that these steps be consistently followed in all emergency departments. To report a suspected Ebola patient call the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services at 573-751-6113 or 800-392-0272 (24 hours a day/seven days a week), and call your local public health agency. Please follow the steps below for patients who present with symptoms and have recently traveled from Uganda.
- Patients should be placed in an airborne isolation room, if available, and appropriate PPE should be worn during the evaluation process.
- Hospitals and clinics that identify possible EVD patients should first call either their Local Public Health Department or the DHSS Emergency Resources Center at 573-751-5152 or 800-392-0272.
- Prior consultation with CDC is required before shipping a specimen to CDC for Sudan virus testing. All specimens collected from patients with suspected EVD must be shipped Category A as a nonselect agent.
- There is no FDA-licensed vaccine or treatment for Sudan virus, but MBP134, an experimental antibody cocktail therapy, has demonstrated efficacy in nonhuman primates. Supportive treatment can improve chances of survival when provided early.
- CDC: Ebola Virus Disease Overview
- CDC: General Resources for Ebola Virus Disease
- CDC: Health Alert: Update on Ebola Virus Disease (Sudan ebolavirus) Outbreak in Central Uganda (11/7/22)
- CDC: COCA Call: Update on 2022 Ebola Outbreak in Uganda (10/12/22)
- Missouri Ebola Virus Disease Plan, located in EMResource library
- UNMC: Global Center for Health Security
- CDC: Personal Protective Equipment
- CDC: Interim Guidance for U.S. Hospital Preparedness for PUIs or with Confirmed EVD
- CDC: Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized PUIs for EVD in U.S. Hospitals
- CDC: Interim Guidance for Environmental Infection Control in Hospitals for Ebola Virus
- CDC: Procedures for Safe Handling and Management of Ebola-Associated Waste
- CDC: Guidance on PPE To Be Used By Healthcare Workers During Management of Patients with Confirmed Ebola or PUIs who are Clinically Unstable
- CDC: Estimated PPE Needed for Healthcare Facilities
Donning and Doffing of PPE
- CDC: Guidance Videos for Donning and Doffing PPE During Management of Patients with Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. Hospitals
- UNMC: Handouts, Videos and Other Materials for Donning and Doffing Education and Training
- North Carolina Division of Public Health: Donning and Doffing of PPE for Ebola Isolation Units
- CDC: Ebola Preparedness: Emergency Department Training Modules
- NETEC: Ebola in the Age of COVID Webinar
- NETEC: PPE 201
- CDC: PPE Training
- DHSS: Missouri’s Response Plan for Suspected and Confirmed Patients Webinar
- MHA: Ebola Tabletop Exercise (.ppt)
- University of Nebraska Medical Center: ISOPOD Training Video
- Annals of Emergency Medicine: Transport and Management of Patients with Confirmed or Suspected Ebola Virus Disease
- UNMC: Free Ebola Online Course
Contact An Expert

Jackie Gatz

Keri Barclay
Upcoming Events
CDC Public Health Partner Update: Monkeypox in the U.S.
Noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, June 16
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