How the outbreak and WHO's response unfolded

WHO's response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa had 3 phases. Phase 1 focused on rapid scale-up of the response; phase 2 focused on increasing capacities, phase 3 focused on interrupting all remaining chains of Ebola transmission, and responding to the consequences of residual risks.

Phase 1: Rapid scale-up of the response

In Phase 1 (August – December 2014), WHO and its partners focused on rapid scale-up of the response. This included:

• Increasing the number of Ebola treatment centres and patient beds.
• Rapidly hiring and training teams in safe and dignified burials.
• Strengthening social mobilization capacities.

Work in these areas began in August 2014, as the outbreak exploded, and continued through the end of December. During this period, the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) was launched.

Preventing Diseases From Crossing Borders in West Africa Post-Ebola:

When the Ebola outbreak was confirmed in Guinea two years ago, one of the reasons the virus spread so quickly was due to the high amount of people traffic across the borders of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. To mitigate the introduction of new Ebola cases or other diseases by cross border travellers, the Red Cross has introduced a community event-based surveillance system. It is successful, in large part, due to the engagement of community members.

A comprehensive new study of measles and pertussis outbreaks in the United States suggests that adults’ reluctance or refusal to vaccinate themselves and their children has played a key role in the resurgence of diseases that had been largely eradicated in this country.

In an analysis published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Assn., epidemiologists scoured reports of measles and pertussis outbreaks to glean what role vaccination refusal and hesitance played. They also considered the effect of waning immunity among those who were vaccinated.