--- description: The CDC’s “level 1 activation” is reserved for the most serious public health emergencies title: CDC Ebola Alert: What You Need to Know image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9083f354194fe12d/69869ee13bc999ca961a4d73/453303870.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Infectious Disease](/tag/infectious-disease/) ## Infectious Disease Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Here's What You Need to Know About the CDC's Ebola Alert by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2014 4:22 PM CUT  US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden shows an awareness poster as he testifies before Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee hearing on "Combating the Ebola Threat" at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, on August 7, 2014. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Tom Frieden shows an awareness poster as he testifies before Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations Subcommittee hearing on "Combating the Ebola Threat" at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, DC, on August 7, 2014.Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2014 4:22 PM CUT The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has raised its emergency response to the Ebola virus to level 1\. This is the third time that emergency alertness was activated to that level in the history of the CDC. Previously, level 1 emergency response was declared in 2005 for Hurricane Katrina and in 2009 for the H1n1 influenza outbreak. In the video above, take a look at CDC’s response center and learn more of what it means that the government agency has issued the highest level alert. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3093011/ebola-outbreak-cdc-alert/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3093011/ebola-outbreak-cdc-alert/"},"headline":"Here's What You Need to Know About the CDC's Ebola Alert","datePublished":"2014-08-08T16:22:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:34:26.673Z","description":"The CDC’s “level 1 activation” is reserved for the most serious public health emergencies","url":"https://time.com/3093011/ebola-outbreak-cdc-alert/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Africa","ebola"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9083f354194fe12d/69869ee13bc999ca961a4d73/453303870.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9083f354194fe12d/69869ee13bc999ca961a4d73/453303870.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-WAFRICA-HEALTH-EBOLA","caption":"US-WAFRICA-HEALTH-EBOLA","creditText":"Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3093011/ebola-outbreak-cdc-alert/","name":"Here's What You Need to Know About the CDC's Ebola Alert"}}]}] ```