(May 29, 2026) – Given the growing Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda, the Kansas Hospital Association encourages each facility to review and update (as needed) the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Preparedness Plan. Stay up to date by using resources such as the Transmission website from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, our Regional Emerging Special Pathogens Treatment Center. At the same time, many other infectious diseases of concern remain, both foreign and domestic. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment Travel & Health website offers useful, real-time travel screening tools and resources to support our goal of identifying, isolating, and informing. Amid growing concern about Ebola, KHA reached out to KDHE Epidemiology with specific questions. See the Q&A below.
Q: KHA's presumption is that performing travel screening, especially for a patient with symptoms, and contacting KDHE Epidemiology are the first steps you would expect hospitals to take. Is that accurate?
A: YES! It's right along with the #ThinkTravelHistory campaign we have been pushing in preparation for FIFA. Providers should routinely ask patients about recent domestic and international travel history. We have tools available, such as the Global Infectious Disease Events dashboard and the Weekly Domestic and International Infectious Disease Report, to keep our providers updated on what is circulating here in the U.S. and abroad. If a provider suspects someone may have Ebola because of travel history, perhaps with risk factors like attending a funeral or working as a health care provider in certain countries, and the patient has symptoms compatible with the disease, that suspicion should be reported to the 24/7 EpiHotline at (877) 427-7317, Confidential Fax: (877) 427-7318, or Email: epihotline@kdheks.gov, within four hours of suspicion. As further context, specifically regarding Ebola, non-U.S. passport holders who have been in certain countries within the last 21 days will not be allowed into the U.S. U.S. passport holders will be funneled to specific airports and screened by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff. If symptomatic, they will be sent to an assessment facility for further workup. If asymptomatic, their destination states will provide information to continue active monitoring for 21 days from their last exposure.
Q: Would you expect a suspected Ebola patient to be taken to the Level 3 facility at the University of Kansas Medical Center?
A: Only if someone under active monitoring for suspected Ebola exposure, or for any High Consequence Infectious Disease, develops symptoms. In that case, they would be taken to our assessment hospital, KU Med.
Q: Does KDHE Epidemiology facilitate the transfer?
A: KDHE Epidemiology would relay information about active monitoring, specifically that the person under monitoring developed symptoms, to KDHE leadership and others within KDHE who would facilitate the transfer.
Q: Who coordinates the EMS agency, and who would that likely be?
A: KDHE coordinates that as well. We work with services under a state contract.
Please share with your clinical teams, and reach out to lvanderwege@kha-net.org, with questions.
--Larry Van Der Wege