Ebola virus disease contact tracing activities, lessons learned and best practices during the Duport Road outbreak in Monrovia, Liberia, November 2015.

Background: Contact tracing is one of the key response activities necessary for halting Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) transmission. Key elements of contact tracing include identification of persons who have been in contact with confirmed EVD cases and careful monitoring for EVD symptoms, but the details of implementation likely influence their effectiveness. In November 2015, several months after a major Ebola outbreak was controlled in Liberia, three members of a family were confirmed positive for EVD in the Duport Road area of Monrovia.

Newborn screening for congenital infectious diseases.

To estimate the prevalence of congenital toxoplasmosis, Chagas disease, cytomegalovirus, and rubella, blood samples on dried blood spot (DBS) from neonates (day 3-20 of life) were screened for immunoglobulin (Ig) M against Toxoplasma gondii, cytomegalovirus, rubella virus, and IgG against Trypanosoma cruzi by methods used for serum and adapted for use with DBS. Positive samples were further analyzed for IgM and IgG in serum from neonates and mothers. DBS samples from 364,130 neonates were tested for Toxoplasma gondii-specific IgM, and 15,873 neonates were also tested for IgM against cytomegalovirus and rubella virus and for Trypanosoma cruzi-specific IgG.