Gov. Jay Nixon on Friday assured Missourians that the state's health network is prepared for communicable disease-related emergencies, such as the recent isolated Ebola cases in Texas.
At a press conference at the State Public Health Laboratory, Nixon announced the laboratory's recent designation as an Ebola testing facility by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Laboratory Response Network.
"There has not been a single reported case of Ebola in the state of Missouri," Nixon said. "Our lab is as good as any and has been certified to make sure that we will be able to find out as quickly as possible if that occurs. We have taken a proactive approach to engage ourselves with local communities and health care providers ... The bottom line is, folks, if they have questions, they should remain in contact with their local health care providers. That is the best thing you could do."
Nixon also mentioned that the new designation will allow the state to react more rapidly to a possible outbreak and that it frees the state from dependency on outside sources, such as the CDC facilities in Atlanta, in a worst-case scenario. The designation makes the Missouri laboratory one of approximately 20 in the country that can test for Ebola, Nixon said.
Another announcement was that he is releasing the requested $3.3 million in funding for local public health agencies. Several of the county health agencies recently have drafted letters to the governor's office, requesting the release of the funding that is used to operate communicable disease-related programs as well as food, lodging and sewer inspection.
"Throughout the year, and especially now during flu season, our local public health agencies provide essential services that keep their communities healthy and strong," he said. "Revenue is limited, but with more than 8,000 jobs added (to the state's economy) last month it is clear that our economy is moving forward, and I am pleased to make these resources available."
He also said that last week the Department of Health and Senior Services, in conjunction with the state Emergency Management Agency, conducted a comprehensive preparedness training session with more than 200 representatives of public health agencies, emergency medical services, hospitals, long-term care providers, law enforcement agencies and schools. Nixon added that additional education was provided to hospitals Thursday at the Missouri Hospital Association Conference, and more training exercises are in the works.
"We had our state epidemiologist do a presentation for all of them, and then they did an exercise to determine what would they do in this case or that case. And we are planning to do more of those regionally," said Gail Vasterling, director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, about the recent training.
Vasterling and Nixon also addressed the recent false call of Ebola in Cole County on Wednesday. While Nixon noted that there are laws in place to ensure those who perpetrate these hoaxes with ill intent will face the proper consequences, Vasterling was more constructive and viewed the shenanigan as an opportunity.
"It was good for us to see that we could all work together and plan out what we could do in case it had been true," she said. "The one yesterday was the first one that I would classify as a false call. Most of the calls we receive are medical professionals wanting to know if someone should be tested based on the person."