World Health Organization: Addressing Ebola and other Highly Infectious Diseases Internationally

2011, the Government of the United States of America and the World Health Organization signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to assist WHO Member States in strengthening their capacity to meet the requirements of the International Health Regulations (2005). The MOU encourages CDC and WHO to pursue activities that improve the abilities of all nations to detect, report, and respond to infectious diseases quickly and effectively. CDC program managers, WHO administrators, and national health authorities agree that the activities funded under the current agreement have supported the purposes of the MOU, strengthened overall infectious disease surveillance and response, improved national public health infrastructure, and provided critical technical assistance in support of global health security. With the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, this FOA serves to expand the cooperative agreement specifically for Ebola and other highly infectious diseases. Surveillance, epidemiological tracking, specimen and patient handling, laboratory testing, infection control, and other public health activities, etc., all must be strengthened in Africa and globally to assure rapid detection and response and safe handling of patients or speciments suspected of being infected with Ebola or other highly infectious diseases/agents as well as to shore up ongoing public health infrastructure and programs (e.g., vaccination campaigns, routine public health activities, etc.) that are being challenged and in some instances, stalled, due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak.