Health director reports staffing changes and monitoring for measles, hantavirus and Ebola

Chris Posseie, of the South County Health Department, updated the committee on staffing and disease surveillance on June 11. He said Laura Alexander, the department's administrative manager, will retire at the end of June and that an environmental health hire has started; a program assistant has given a verbal acceptance pending background checks and a public-health nurse position remains open.

Posseie said the department is monitoring measles outbreaks across the U.S. and told the committee that, "as of June 4th in the US, there are 2,30 confirmed cases in over 40 different jurisdictions," adding that Illinois is included. The transcript's numeric formatting is ambiguous; the article quotes the presenter verbatim to reflect what was said. He said public-health staff are also monitoring an Andes strain of hantavirus tied to a cruise-ship exposure and that no related U.S. cases have been detected; people exposed aboard the ship remain under local watch and quarantine periods linked to those exposures are expected to end around June 21.

Posseie summarized international Ebola activity, saying the Democratic Republic of the Congo reported 598 cases and 115 confirmed deaths and that Uganda reported 19 cases and two deaths; he said those reports come from international sources and that, to date, there are no related cases in the U.S. He noted that several U.S. airports are performing arrival monitoring for travelers from affected regions and described how state and local health departments coordinate monitoring, quarantine and hospital routing if someone becomes ill.

On local surveillance and outreach, Posseie urged residents to complete the department's community-needs (IP plan) survey posted on the county website and social media. He reported recent vector surveillance activity: a May tick drag at Harper Farms near Ottawa netted about 120 ticks in one short drag, and mosquito trapping for West Nile virus is underway (the department is prioritizing traps over dead-bird collection this season). He also said the department had received most annual grant applications but that some funding sources were significantly reduced compared with prior years (one source was described as reduced from $35,000 to $1,500 in the presenters remarks).

Nancy (District 26) asked whether a diagnostic test exists for the Ebola strain; Posseie said tests do exist though earlier test panels did not include this particular strain. He also clarified that municipal water systems are regulated by the EPA, while the county health department manages private wells and responds when municipalities issue boil orders.

The board heard staff presentations on illegal sewage discharges and a range of outreach items, including tobacco-cessation and vaccination reminders. Posseie asked residents to look for the IP-plan QR code included in committee materials and on the county website and encouraged participation in the community needs assessment.