NIH program to train health care and other workers on infectious disease safety

Eight organizations have received grants to provide environmental infection control and hazard recognition training to health care and other workers with the potential for exposure to high-risk infectious diseases, the National Institutes of Health announced yesterday. “A few years ago, very few of us had heard of diseases like Ebola or Zika,” said Linda Birnbaum, director of NIH’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which will oversee the Ebola Biosafety and Infectious Disease Response Training. “We need to ensure that we have a workforce ready to contain these and the next infectious disease threats.” The program is a collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.