Global Ebola preparedness fixated on one strain, leaving other species vulnerable
In an opinion piece, infectious-diseases physician Krutika Kuppalli and virologist Placide Mbala argue that the term "Ebola" masks several distinct virus species, each with different diagnostic and therapeutic needs.
They note that for most of the last decade global preparedness has centered on Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV), the strain behind the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic, while other species received little attention.
The ongoing Bundibugyo virus outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, now the country’s largest Ebola epidemic and the second-largest ever recorded, exposes this narrow focus and underscores a critical gap in global health readiness.
This writeup was produced by pharmadog from original reporting by STAT.
Original headline: “Opinion: We prepared for Ebola — but not this Ebola”
read at STAT ↗
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