Collin County's public health arm will formally budget a $133,431 federal grant for emergency medication distribution and seek retroactive approval for an Ebola preparedness grant application when the Health Care Foundation Board of Trustees meets July 20.

The larger item is a budget notification for the FY 2027 Cities Readiness Initiative grant, a CDC-funded program that helps local health departments plan rapid distribution of life-saving medicines from the Strategic National Stockpile during large-scale emergencies. County Auditor Robert D. Cone detailed the grant in a June 29 memo: $121,301 in direct costs and $12,130 in indirect costs, covering July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027. The Commissioners Court already accepted the award; Monday's action formally establishes the budget line.

The board will also vote to retroactively approve a grant application that Public Health Director Candy Blair submitted to the Texas Department of State Health Services before a June 19 deadline. The Ebola Virus Disease Preparedness and Response grant would fund staff salaries for disease monitoring, case assessment, coordination with local healthcare partners, and operational readiness for high-consequence infectious diseases.

The application comes as an international outbreak accelerates. The World Health Organization reported July 16 that the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ebola outbreak surpassed 2,000 confirmed cases in just two months, making it the third-largest Ebola outbreak on record. The Bundibugyo species of ebolavirus driving this outbreak has no approved vaccine or specific treatment, which is why the existing Ebola vaccine used in prior outbreaks does not apply.

Blair wrote in a July 13 memo to the board that the county would decline the award if the final dollar amount proves "insufficient to adequately support program implementation, staffing, reporting, and compliance requirements." No county tax match is required, and the anticipated contract term is approximately six months.

The final Ebola grant amount has not been disclosed. Blair's memo states the award will depend on total federal funding available and that allocations to local health departments may be adjusted.