Global Strategies for the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases and Non-Communicable Diseases

Nakatani, Hiroki

While the SARS outbreak contributed to shaping global health policy in the last decade, the implications of the recent Ebola outbreak need to be explored. The statistics of the Ebola outbreak to date read nine countries infected, transmission across three continents, 26 000 cases, and 11 000 deaths, with the heaviest burden in three West African countries. Indeed, this is the largest Ebola epidemic but not the first. In previous outbreaks, patients were confined to remote villages, and the outbreak subsided after several dozen cases. However, this most recent outbreak was distinguished by the increased mobility within and between countries after the end of civil wars in some of the countries, and also the employment of many mobile workers by the booming mineral industry.