CDC details teams being put together to prepare for and respond to future U.S. Ebola cases

ATLANTA – New federal Ebola response squads – likened to public health SWAT teams – are being readied to rush to any U.S. city where a new Ebola case might be identified, officials say.

Meanwhile, the government has formed a second set of teams to prepare hospitals in cities deemed most likely to see a new Ebola case, should one turn up. Three of those teams have already been sent out.

Health officials this week first shared details about the two sets of health squads.

The teams are “ready to go – boom – if we have another case of Ebola,” said Dr. Jordan Tappero, one of the leaders of CDC’s Ebola response effort.

The government has been criticized for its handling of the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the U.S. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian, came down with Ebola symptoms last month, a few days after arriving in Dallas from West Africa. He was admitted to a Dallas hospital in late September and died Oct. 8.

Duncan’s illness and death created public fear as health officials had to track down and monitor scores of people he came in contact with. No one in the community has been infected, but two nurses who cared for him were. Since then, CDC officials have said they should have sent more people to Dallas when Duncan’s case first surfaced – particularly infection control specialists, who could have provided better guidance to the hospital.

Last week, President Barack Obama announced a push for a faster federal reaction. “We want a rapid response team, a SWAT team essentially, from the CDC to be on the ground as quickly as possible, hopefully within 24 hours, so that they are taking the local hospital step by step though what needs to be done,” he said.