10 Years Later: Looking Back on NMRC Ebola Response in West Africa

In March of 2014, the West African nation of Guinea declared an outbreak of Ebola disease.

Caused by orthoebolavirus infection, exposure to the Ebola disease typically occurs through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected individual or body. Because Ebola symptoms mirror other indigenous diseases such as malaria, influenza, food-borne poisoning, basic diarrhea and Lassa hemorrhagic fever, cases went undiagnosed for three months, which quickly overwhelmed the local health care systems of Guinea and other affected nations.

In September 2014, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 2177, which declared the Ebola outbreak to be a threat to world peace. That same month, Cmdr. Guillermo Pimentel and Chief Hospital Corpsman Jerrold Diederich, both with Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), arrived in Liberia as part of an advance party to coordinate the setup of two mobile test laboratories, with six personnel and 15,000 pounds of equipment and supplies for three months without support for Operation United Assistance (OUA).

The labs landed on September 29, and were operational and receiving samples on Monrovia Island by October 2, and at Cuttington University Bong County lab, Liberia, on October 3. Once both labs became operational, they reduced the amount of time it took to get test results from seven days to less than four hours. The labs operated daily from eight a.m. to nine p.m., and by March 2015, had processed more than 5,300 samples.

“We demonstrated that NMRC has lab detection capabilities for infectious diseases that are truly mobile and agile,” Pimental recalled. “We know that we were able to save lives by reporting results in less than 24 hours, versus the seven days processing took before our arrival. It was something remarkable that every member of the mobile labs really enjoyed. We made Navy Medicine and NMRC proud.”

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the outbreak. Pimentel, now a captain, and Diederich, retired from the Navy and currently employed as a civilian, along with several other Sailors who participated in that unprecedented epidemic ,are still with NMRC, now Naval Medical Research Command.

“It was an honor and privilege to be part of the Navy Medicine response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa,” Diederich added. “Our efforts to quickly establish the two NMRC laboratories in Liberia were crucial to providing much needed support. The training and commitment of everyone manning the laboratories helped save lives and shorten the epidemic.”

In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, NMRC researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.