Infectious Disease Readiness

The NYC Department of Health's Communicable Disease Preparedness Program works to ensure citywide readiness for Ebola virus disease and other special pathogens transmissible from person to person. New York City is an international crossroads and disease outbreaks anywhere in the world can make their way here.

Health care facilities and emergency medical services must be ready to prevent, detect and respond to dangerous pathogens. The tools and guidance documents found on this page are designed to help health care systems prepare to safely and successfully identify, isolate, assess, transport and treat patients with a suspected or confirmed special pathogen.

Mystery Patient Drills

An effective method to promote best practices in screening, isolation and infection control in the acute care setting is to conduct unannounced “mystery patient drills” (MPDs).

To request resources in a modifiable format, email prepdocs@health.nyc.gov.

• Your facility may wish to use Essential Staff Training for Infection Control, designed by the Health Department, to provide healthcare facility staff with an overview on how to identify and protect staff and patients from transmission of severe communicable diseases such as Ebola. Once you have registered for an account on the learning management system, search for the course title.

Publications on the Use of Mystery Patient Drills

• Foote MM, Styles TS, Quinn CL. Assessment of Hospital Emergency Department Response to Potentially Infectious Diseases Using Unannounced Mystery Patient Drills — New York City, 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:945–949.
• Foote, M., et al. Using "Mystery Patient" Drills to Assess Hospital Ebola Preparedness in New York City, 2014-2015. Health Secur 15(5): 500-508.
• Ali, M. and M. D. Williams. No-Notice Mystery Patient Drills to Assess Emergency Preparedness for Infectious Diseases at Community Health Centers in New York City, 2015-2016. J Community Health 44(2): 387-394.

Additional Resources for Screening, Isolation and Infection Control in Acute Care Settings

• Preventing Measles in Health Care Settings (PDF): Provides detailed guidance on best practices to reduce the risk of measles exposures in hospitals and other acute care settings.


• NYC Guidance for Screening and Isolation Protocols in Acute Care (PDF): Provides a reference for developing or revising your facility’s screening and isolation protocols.