GLOBAL HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT

editor's note

Our global health team came together in 2014 -- when the Ebola outbreak in Africa put the world on edge. We had reporters on the ground from the outset and won a Peabody award for our coverage.

Now a dozen years later, a new outbreak has emerged in the Democratic Republic of Congo with startling numbers. The World Health Organization has declared a global emergency.

There are many questions to probe. We're addressing them in our ongoing coverage.

How contagious is Ebola compared to, say, COVID-19 or measles? The graphic above is featured in our story "A rare Ebola strain is spreading with no vaccine. Here's what you need to know." 

Could cases have been spreading for weeks, even months, before they were detected? And have U.S. aid cuts had an impact on the ability to identify the virus and provide treatment? Those issues are covered in our story "U.S. aid cuts may have delayed detecting this Ebola outbreak."

How does this outbreak compare to the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic? We asked Ron Klain, who helped orchestrate the U.S. response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, as the White House Ebola response coordinator under President Obama. He discusses the role USAID played in responding to the earlier Ebola crisis and assesses whether today’s outbreak poses more or less of a risk to people in the United States.

What's the impact on air travelers from the affected countries? We have a story that looks at the new protocols, with the firsthand experience of Michal Ruprecht, an NPR contributor who had been on a reporting trip to  Uganda and flew back to the U.S. this past week. Read the story and watch his Instagram reel.

Marc Silver
Editor, global health and development