July 24 marked the end of the latest outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This was the DRC’s ninth Ebola outbreak. In fact, the Ebola virus was first identified there in 1976. Previous outbreaks had been confined to isolated rural areas but this one involved four separate locations, including Mbandaka, a major city with connections to the capital, Kinshasa, and its more than 10 million people, as well as the neighbouring country capitals of Bangui and Brazzaville. In addition, health workers were infected, becoming vectors for spread themselves.
One of the many lessons from the devastating West African Ebola epidemic of 2014 was that the world expected much more from the World Health Organization than it was then able to deliver. We have since worked hard to make sure the world is better prepared, not only for Ebola but for the many high-threat pathogens, including pandemic influenza, that can cross the species barrier—from animals to humans—at…
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