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Opinion: First hantavirus, now Ebola: What two outbreaks reveal about global preparedness
The reports emerging this week of a major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, coming alongside a growing hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship in South America, should serve as another warning that the era of emerging infectious diseases is not ahead of us. We are already living in it.
According to Africa CDC, the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province has already resulted in 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths, with preliminary testing suggesting a non-Zaire ebolavirus strain. The agency has raised concerns about spread driven by population movement, political and health insecurity in affected areas due to violence, gaps in contact tracing, health care-associated transmission, and limited infection prevention and control capacity.
The reports emerging this week of a major Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, coming alongside a growing hantavirus outbreak linked to a cruise ship in South America, should serve as another warning that the era of emerging infectious diseases is not ahead of us. We are already living in it.
According to Africa CDC, the Ebola outbreak in Ituri province has already resulted in 246 suspected cases and 65 deaths, with preliminary testing suggesting a non-Zaire ebolavirus strain. The agency has raised concerns about spread driven by population movement, political and health insecurity in affected areas due to violence, gaps in contact tracing, health care-associated transmission, and limited infection prevention and control capacity.