How Prepared Is The World For A Major Epidemic?

WAMU 88.5

Published March 15, 2018 at 10:06 AM CDT

Health workers walk at an Ebola quarantine unit on June 13, 2017 in Muma, after a case of Ebola was confirmed in the village.

It was just over four years ago that a little boy in a remote West African village died of Ebola, the deadliest virus known to humankind.

Ebola has been around for decades — maybe even centuries — but this time it spread rapidly, killing more than 11,000 people in about 18 months.

The epidemic exposed great inadequacies in our global health systems. But it also revealed what works well and provided valuable lessons for the future.

Reid Wilson, the author of a new book on the Ebola outbreak, says it’s only a matter of time before the world sees another deadly epidemic. It won’t be Ebola — likely a strain of influenza.

And while the Ebola outbreak taught world health officials a lot, Wilson argues we’re still not ready.

GUESTS

Reid Wilson, National correspondent, The Hill; author of a new book, “Epidemic: Ebola and the Global Scramble to Prevent the Next Killer Outbreak” @PoliticsReid

For more, visit https://the1a.org.