Initial Public Health Laboratory Response After Hurricane Maria — Puerto Rico, 2017

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Concepción-Acevedo, Jeniffer ; Patel, Anita ; Luna-Pinto, Carolina ; Peña, Rafael González ; Cuevas Ruiz, Rosa Ivette ; Arbolay, Héctor Rivera ; Toro, Mayra ; Deseda, Carmen ; De Jesus, Victor R. ; Ribot, Efrain ; Gonzalez, Jennifer-Quiñones ; Rao, Gouthami ; De Leon Salazar, Alfonsina ; Ansbro, Marisela ; White, Brunilís B. ; Hardy, Margaret C. ; Georgi, Joaudimir Castro ; Stinnett, Rita ; Mercante, Alexandra M. ; Lowe, David ; Martin, Haley ; Starks, Angela ; Metchock, Beverly ; Johnston, Stephanie ; Dalton, Tracy ; Joglar, Olga ; Stafford, Cortney ; Youngblood, Monica ; Klein, Katherine ; Lindstrom, Stephen ; Berman, LaShondra ; Galloway, Renee ; Schafer, Ilana J. ; Walke, Henry ; Stoddard, Robyn ; Connelly, Robin ; McCaffery, Elaine ; Rowlinson, Marie-Claire ; Soroka, Stephen ; Tranquillo, Darin T. ; Gaynor, Anne ; Mangal, Chris ; Wroblewski, Kelly ; Muehlenbachs, Atis ; Salerno, Reynolds M. ; Lozier, Matthew ; Sunshine, Brittany ; Shapiro, Craig ; Rose, Dale ; Funk, Renee ; Pillai, Satish K. ; O’Neill, Eduardo
• Description:
  Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, causing major damage to infrastructure and severely limiting access to potable water, electric power, transportation, and communications. Public services that were affected included operations of the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH), which provides critical laboratory tTesting and Surveillance for Diseases and other health hazards. PRDOH requested assistance from CDC for the restoration of laboratory infrastructure, Surveillance capacity, and diagnostic tTesting for selected priority Diseases, including influenza, rabies, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and Tuberculosis. PRDOH, CDC, and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) collaborated to conduct rapid needs assessments and, with assistance from the CDC Foundation, implement a temporary transport system for shipping samples from Puerto Rico to the continental United States for Surveillance and diagnostic and confirmatory tTesting. This report describes the initial laboratory emergency response and engagement efforts among federal, state, and nongovernmental partners to reestablish public health laboratory services severely affected by Hurricane Maria. The implementation of a sample transport system allowed Puerto Rico to reinitiate priority infectious disease Surveillance and laboratory tTesting for patient and public health interventions, while awaiting the rebuilding and reinstatement of PRDOH laboratory services.
• Subjects:
  Communicable Diseases Cyclonic Storms Diagnostic Tests, Routine Full Report Humans Laboratories Natural Disasters Population Surveillance Public Health Practice
• Source:
  MMWR Morbidity Mortal Weekly Rep. 67(11):333-336.
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6711a5
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Pubmed ID:
  29565842
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5868205
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Name as Subject:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
• Place as Subject:
  Puerto Rico ; United States
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  67
• Issue:
  11
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3377c2a2c9312a12029a5615e5976ab2cd4e888d8f6ca479b70995842a38f9cbfbc8c16ed1ec66276505d0fb2212d3692a086050fb6d8fe478579ce386b040ad
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/55254/cdc_55254_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 296.38 KB ]