Outbreak of E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product Use-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)

Outbreak of E-cigarette, or Vaping, Product UseAssociated Lung Injury (EVALI) 

On August 22, 2019, CSTE activated its Concept of Operations (ConOps) Plan for emergency response for the first time in response to the emerging epidemic of vaping associated lung injury (EVALI) in the U.S. CSTE staff and members quickly mobilized to stand up the CSTE Vaping Associated Pulmonary Illness (VAPI) Epi Task Force, which led federal and state partners in the epidemiological response through regular calls, technical assistance, and critical communications throughout the epidemic. On January 17, 2020, CSTE officially deactivated its EVALI response. The CSTE VAPI Epi Task Force continues to meet and has been incorporated into the routine programmatic workflow at the CSTE National Office. Collectively, CSTE learned many lessons through its first ConOps activation that will be documented in an internal after action review (AAR) and implemented through modifications to CSTE’s ConOps plan for future emergency or outbreak responses.

The CSTE VAPI Epidemiology Task Force has been instrumental in assisting CDC to develop case definitions and data collection tools. Activities include:

  • Hosted weekly VAPI Task Force calls from August through December 2019; moved to bi-weekly calls as of January 2020
  • Hosted weekly VAPI Leadership Group calls with CSTE members in MN, NM, IL, WI, UT, NC, and CA and CDC EOC leadership from August 2019 through January 2020
  • Participated in weekly coordination calls with CDC EOC leadership from August through December 2019; moved to bi-weekly calls as of January 2020
  • Participated in weekly coordination calls with CDC, FDA, APHL, and CSTE VAPI Task Force chair(s) to touch base on lab activities from August 2019 through January 2020
  • Participated in weekly APHL partners calls from August through November 2019; calls have occurred bi-weekly since December 2019
  • Hosted topic-specific project calls (scheduled and held as needed) to coordinate CDC’s National YouGov Survey, a multi-state EVALI severity analysis, and an analysis of cases in states with legalized recreational THC
  • Provides ongoing support and communications to coordinate feedback from the Task Force on CDC response materials, including case interview forms, case reporting forms, and the DCIPHER platform
  • Development and dissemination of a brief EVALI response questionnaire to states and affected territories in January 2020