This PML is superseded by the HR Manual and is no longer active.
PML Number
2014-039
Title
Ebola Virus Disease Information 
Date Issued
November 06, 2014
Owner
Department of Human Resources, Labor Relations Division
Contact
Personnel Services Branch
(916) 323-3343
psb@calhr.ca.gov
Signed By
Mary Sue Paul, Manager 
Content
There are no known cases of the Ebola Virus Disease (Ebola) in the State of California and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) currently assesses the threat of contracting Ebola in California as extraordinarily low.  However, the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR) is proactively providing the following information from CDPH to our state agencies and employees. 
Employees Returning from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
The Ebola virus is currently active in three countries in West Africa: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.  If your agency or department has an employee returning from one of these three countries or any other countries that become affected by Ebola, you are asked to contact the local health department in your area to determine if this person is able to return to work.  CalHR will contact personnel agencies and departments if the list of countries affected by Ebola expands.  
Ebola Background, Signs, and Symptoms
Ebola cannot be contracted through air, food, or water.  It is spread through direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person exhibiting symptoms of the virus.  This means that a person has to have direct contact with a person infected by Ebola to be infected themselves.  Direct contact means that bodily fluids from an infected person have touched someone’s eyes, nose, mouth, open cut, wound, or abrasion.  The virus can also be spread through exposure to certain objects (such as needles) contaminated by an infected person’s blood or bodily fluids.  
Symptoms of Ebola may appear anywhere from 2-21 days after exposure and include fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, and abnormal bleeding. Employees with these symptoms who have traveled to a country affected by Ebola or have been exposed to Ebola through direct contact with a person who has Ebola should immediately contact their local health department.
Persons carrying Ebola who do not have symptoms are not contagious.  Individuals that have a particularized risk of Ebola infection as determined by a local health official or a healthcare provider are expected to follow the instructions of the state and local health officer including any quarantine orders. There is no need to avoid contact with a person who has recently traveled to a country where Ebola is active, unless that person is exhibiting symptoms of the virus or is under quarantine orders to avoid contact with others.  
The following links include additional information on Ebola from CDPH and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  
California Department of Public Health Website – Ebola Virus 
California Department of Public Health – Ebola Virus Disease FAQ’s
California Department of Public Health – Ebola Virus Information Page  
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Ebola Virus Disease
Additional Information
CalHR is working closely with CDPH and the California Health and Human Services Agency to monitor the Ebola situation and will provide further updates and direction should it become necessary.  However, state agencies should keep apprised of the latest information from CDPH via their website.  Should a state agency have concern that an individual employee poses a risk to other employees, they should contact the local health department in their jurisdiction for further guidance.  A list of local health departments and their contact phone number are located on CDPH’s Local Health Department Information website.  
It should be noted that many of Ebola’s symptoms are similar to those of the flu and other common illnesses.  Since flu season is upon us, employees are encouraged to get a flu shot.  
For questions related to this PML, state department personnel office designated liaisons should contact CalHR’s Personnel Services Branch by emailing questions to psb@calhr.ca.gov or calling (916) 323-3343.