Providing nursing care to Ebola virus disease patients: China Ebola Treatment Unit experience

Since the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in mid 2014, many countries and WHO sent physicians and nurses to sub–Saharan Africa. The Chinese government sent three groups of medical staff to Liberia over the period from 14 November 2014 to 15 May 2015 and built an EVD treatment unit located in the Samuel Kanyon Doe (SKD) sports stadium of Paynesville which then received patients from across the country. EVD is a highly contagious and lethal disease [1] with no effective vaccine or specific treatment regimen. Since the beginning of 2014, Ebola virus has infected more than 20 000 people and killed more than 7000 patients. WHO reported that infected medical staff are one of the groups with the highest case fatality ratios. The President of People’s Republic of China issued an order to “cure EVD patients, as many as possible, while keeping zero infection of medical staff.” With this goal, the Ministry of Health organized a panel of infectious disease prevention and treatment experts to design the Ebola Treatment Unit (ETU) in Paynesville, Liberia, and sent 3 medical teams (approximately 700 physicians and nurses) to Sierra Leone and Liberia.