Ebola virus disease: Managing a practice challenge with evidence

In September 2014, a patient with a possible exposure to Ebola virus disease (EVD) was admitted to the Special Clinical Studies Unit (SCSU) at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center—one of three units in the United States originally designated as able to accept patients with EVD. The SCSU opened in 2010 and was initially designed to care for patients suspected of having a highly contagious condition, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome or another emerging infection, especially in the context of occupational exposures during research with these agents. The highest possible principles of containment and bio-safety were built into the unit and its procedures, with a focus on patients with highly contagious infectious diseases requiring respiratory and contact isolation.1