MONROVIA, February 23 (LINA) - The Rapid Isolation and Treatment of Ebola (RITE) strategy is helping to end the Ebola epidemic in Liberia, according to new data reported in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

The strategy—a rapid, coordinated response to Ebola cases in remote areas—is now being used in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
RITE was developed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Liberian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

The strategy focuses on maintaining investigation - and response-ready health teams (RITE teams) poised to deploy to remote areas as soon as a report of a suspected Ebola case is received.

The teams take the lead in coordinating the assistance from the central Ministry and international partners needed to plan, manage, and track a response effort. The teams have the expertise and basic supplies needed to do a number of things.

It can rapidly isolate and treat Ebola patients, either by establishing facilities in the community or safely transporting patients to existing Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs).
 The team collects patient blood samples and transports them to labs for Ebola confirmation, and ascertains the index case – that is, the first person to bring Ebola into the community – to understand importation and transmission patterns

The RITE team trains community teams in safe burial practices and observes contacts of Ebola patients for 21 days from the death or ETU admission of the last case to ensure the outbreak is over, among other tasks.
 
The RITE strategy was launched in early October 2014.
LINA