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Introduction During the 2014–15 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa, French armed forces were involved in the treatment and management of Ebola patients in Guinea. The constant flow of military personnel returning from their deployment posed a risk of secondary dissemination of the Ebola virus. Our objective was to describe the follow-up of returning service members that was implemented to prevent this risk of dissemination in France. Method For the French military, a specific complementary follow-up was added to the national monitoring to take into account the need for a detailed record for follow-up of returning military personnel and to keep the military chain of command informed. Results All the 410 service members deployed in Guinea underwent monitoring among whom 22 were suspected of EVD. Three of them were considered as possible EVD cases but none of them was tested positive for EVD. Conclusion The monitoring organized for French service members deployed in Guinea made it possible to follow all exposed military personnel after their return, know their health status on a near real-time basis and be aware of all alerts. To reach this goal the collaboration with French national health agencies was necessary and should be improved in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the contribution of a newly implemented daily surveillance system to the management of the 2009 A(H1N1) influenza pandemic by the military decision-makers at different levels in the French Department of Defence. Methods: The study sample included all medical advisors in the Ministry of Defence and the French Armed Forces Staff and also the members of the specific committee dedicated to flu pandemic control. The variables studied were mental representation of epidemiology, relevance, usefulness, and realtime use of surveillance data using quantitative questionnaires and qualitative face-to-face semistructured interviews. Results: Among the risk managers of the flu pandemic in the Armed Forces, 84% responded. The data generated by epidemiological surveillance were considered relevant and useful, and were reported as effectively used. On the basis of the information produced, concrete actions were planned and implemented in the French Armed Forces. Conclusion: In a pandemic situation involving low mortality, the daily monitoring of the disease did not target public health issues, but it was mainly used to assess the availability of the Armed Forces in real time. For the military staff, epidemiological surveillance represents an essential information tool for the conduct of operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]