On October 21 Governor Brewer issued Executive Order 2014-08 establishing the Council on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response.  The Council was charged with developing and implementing a coordinated comprehensive plan to ensure Arizona’s public health infrastructure is prepared for the potential outbreak of infectious diseases, such as the Ebola virus, influenza, enterovirus, tuberculosis, and other emerging infectious diseases, and can provide rapid response that effectively protects the safety of Arizonans.

Over the last few weeks the 20-member Council examined existing preparedness plans and identified and filled key gaps in Arizona’s response plans.  Today the Council delivered a Preliminary Report to the Governor.  The Report includes a series of new protocols & procedures that improve patient and community safety and strengthens Arizona’s public health and healthcare readiness to effectively deal with emerging infectious diseases like Ebola virus disease.  The full report is 131 pages long.  The main body is 32 pages followed by about 100 pages of appendices that provide more detailed information.

The Council will continue to meet in 2015 to continue their good work.  Congratulations and a sincere thank you to all of the Council participants and partners for all the focused work that went into developing this important report.