Outbreaks that weren't: how countries ended recent outbreaks
Some of the world's most fragile health systems can teach us how to respond quickly and effectively to public health threats.
When Ebola swept through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018, it was difficult to track cases. Dr Billy Yumaine, a public health official, recalls the constant streams of people crossing the border into Uganda while others hid sick family members in their homes because they feared the authorities. It took at least a week to get test results, and health officials struggled to isolate sick people while they waited.
It took the country two years to bring this epidemic under control, and more than 2,300 people died.
A similar disaster threatened the D.R.C. last September. One family in North Kivu province fell ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhoea, one after another. Then their neighbors also fell ill.
But that triggered a series of measures that the D.R.C. set up after the 2018 outbreak. Patients were tested, cases were quickly confirmed as a new Ebola outbreak, and immediately health workers traced 50 family contacts.
Then they deployed to test potential patients at health centers and screen people at busy border crossings, arresting anyone showing symptoms of haemorrhagic fever. Local labs that had been set up following the previous outbreak tested more than 1,800 blood samples.
It made a difference: this time, Ebola only killed 11 people.
"These people died, but we limited ourselves to 11 deaths, whereas in the past we lost thousands," said Dr Yumaine.
You probably haven't heard this story. You probably haven't heard of the deadly Nipah virus outbreak that a doctor and his colleagues stopped in southern India last year either. Or the rabies epidemic that threatened to spread through nomadic Maasai communities in Tanzania. Quick-thinking public health officials slammed it after a handful of children died.
Over the past two years, headlines and social feeds have been dominated by outbreaks around the world. There was Covid, of course, but also mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), cholera and the resurgence of poliomyelitis and measles. But a dozen other outbreaks flashed, threatened – then were snuffed out. While we haven't, we've learned a thing or two about how to do it, and sometimes we succeed.
A report from the Global Organization Resolve to Save Lives health strategy team documented six disasters that weren't. All have emerged in developing countries, including those like the D.R.C. that have some of the most fragile health systems in the world.
While vaccine technology While cutting-edge technology and genomic sequencing received a lot of attention during the Covid years, the interventions that helped prevent these six pandemics were decidedly unglamorous: building community trust in the local healthcare system. Train local staff on how to effectively report a suspected problem. Ensure funds are available to rapidly distribute, deploy contact tracers or vaccinate a village against rabies. Increase laboratory capacity in areas far from major urban centres. Prepare everyone to act quickly at the first sign of potential disaster.
Some of the world's most fragile health systems can teach us how to respond quickly and effectively to public health threats.
When Ebola swept through eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018, it was difficult to track cases. Dr Billy Yumaine, a public health official, recalls the constant streams of people crossing the border into Uganda while others hid sick family members in their homes because they feared the authorities. It took at least a week to get test results, and health officials struggled to isolate sick people while they waited.
It took the country two years to bring this epidemic under control, and more than 2,300 people died.
A similar disaster threatened the D.R.C. last September. One family in North Kivu province fell ill with fevers, vomiting and diarrhoea, one after another. Then their neighbors also fell ill.
But that triggered a series of measures that the D.R.C. set up after the 2018 outbreak. Patients were tested, cases were quickly confirmed as a new Ebola outbreak, and immediately health workers traced 50 family contacts.
Then they deployed to test potential patients at health centers and screen people at busy border crossings, arresting anyone showing symptoms of haemorrhagic fever. Local labs that had been set up following the previous outbreak tested more than 1,800 blood samples.
It made a difference: this time, Ebola only killed 11 people.
"These people died, but we limited ourselves to 11 deaths, whereas in the past we lost thousands," said Dr Yumaine.
You probably haven't heard this story. You probably haven't heard of the deadly Nipah virus outbreak that a doctor and his colleagues stopped in southern India last year either. Or the rabies epidemic that threatened to spread through nomadic Maasai communities in Tanzania. Quick-thinking public health officials slammed it after a handful of children died.
Over the past two years, headlines and social feeds have been dominated by outbreaks around the world. There was Covid, of course, but also mpox (formerly known as monkeypox), cholera and the resurgence of poliomyelitis and measles. But a dozen other outbreaks flashed, threatened – then were snuffed out. While we haven't, we've learned a thing or two about how to do it, and sometimes we succeed.
A report from the Global Organization Resolve to Save Lives health strategy team documented six disasters that weren't. All have emerged in developing countries, including those like the D.R.C. that have some of the most fragile health systems in the world.
While vaccine technology While cutting-edge technology and genomic sequencing received a lot of attention during the Covid years, the interventions that helped prevent these six pandemics were decidedly unglamorous: building community trust in the local healthcare system. Train local staff on how to effectively report a suspected problem. Ensure funds are available to rapidly distribute, deploy contact tracers or vaccinate a village against rabies. Increase laboratory capacity in areas far from major urban centres. Prepare everyone to act quickly at the first sign of potential disaster.
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