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We report on five SARS‐CoV‐2 congregate setting outbreaks at U.S. Operation Allies Welcome Safe Havens/military facilities. Outbreak data were collected, and attack rates were calculated for various populations. Even in vaccinated populations, there was rapid spread, illustrating the importance of institutional prevention and mitigation policies in congregate settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global Rapid Response Team (GRRT) was launched in June 2015 to strengthen the capacity for international response and to provide an agency-wide roster of qualified surge-staff members who can deploy on short notice and for long durations. To assess GRRT performance and inform future needs for CDC and partners using rapid response teams, we analyzed trends and characteristics of GRRT responses and responders, for deployments of at least 1 day during October 1, 2018, through March 31, 2019. One hundred twenty deployments occurred during the study period, corresponding to 2645 person-days. The median deployment duration was 19 days (interquartile range, 5-30 days). Most deployments were related to emergency response (n = 2367 person-days, 90%); outbreaks of disease accounted for almost all deployment time (n = 2419 person-days, 99%). Most deployments were to Africa (n = 1417 person-days, 54%), and epidemiologists were the most commonly deployed technical advisors (n = 1217 person-days, 46%). This case study provides useful information for assessing program performance, prioritizing resource allocation, informing future needs, and sharing lessons learned with other programs managing rapid response teams. GRRT has an important role in advancing the global health security agenda and should continuously be assessed and adjusted to new needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Outbreak response efforts for the 2014-15 Ebola virus disease epidemic in west Africa brought widespread transmission to an end. However, subsequent clusters of infection have occurred in the region. An Ebola virus disease cluster in Liberia in November, 2015, that was identified after a 15-year-old boy tested positive for Ebola virus infection in Monrovia, raised the possibility of transmission from a persistently infected individual.Methods: Case investigations were done to ascertain previous contact with cases of Ebola virus disease or infection with Ebola virus. Molecular investigations on blood samples explored a potential linkage between Ebola virus isolated from cases in this November, 2015, cluster and epidemiologically linked cases from the 2014-15 west African outbreak, according to the national case database.Findings: The cluster investigated was the family of the index case (mother, father, three siblings). Ebola virus genomes assembled from two cases in the November, 2015, cluster, and an epidemiologically linked Ebola virus disease case in July, 2014, were phylogenetically related within the LB5 sublineage that circulated in Liberia starting around August, 2014. Partial genomes from two additional individuals, one from each cluster, were also consistent with placement in the LB5 sublineage. Sequencing data indicate infection with a lineage of the virus from a former transmission chain in the country. Based on serology and epidemiological and genomic data, the most plausible scenario is that a female case in the November, 2015, cluster survived Ebola virus disease in 2014, had viral persistence or recurrent disease, and transmitted the virus to three family members a year later.Interpretation: Investigation of the source of infection for the November, 2015, cluster provides evidence of Ebola virus persistence and highlights the risk for outbreaks after interruption of active transmission. These findings underscore the need for focused prevention efforts among survivors and sustained capacity to rapidly detect and respond to new Ebola virus disease cases to prevent recurrence of a widespread outbreak.Funding: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and WHO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article covers the implementation of the Xpert Ebola Assay, a rapid molecular diagnostic test using the GeneXpert platform, in Liberia in response to the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa between 2014 and 2016. It discusses the effectiveness of coordination between surveillance and laboratory teams before noting the costs and methodology associated with the GeneXpert platform.