Three infectious diseases experts with the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security have returned to Omaha after spending about two weeks in Rwanda assisting with the east African nation’s response to an outbreak of Marburg virus disease, a type of hemorrhagic fever.
Dr. James Lawler, an associate director of the center, said he and two other team members weren’t involved in caring for patients but instead helped develop training plans, programs and materials to assist the Rwandan health care system and communities mitigate the risk of disease transmission.
But the trip, he said, also provided an opportunity for the team to build on some long-standing relationships with universities and other organizations there, including the Rwanda Biomedical Center, an agency similar to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.