Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Rapidly Spreading Ebola Outbreak In Congo Triggers Highest-Level US Response
The Hill: CDC Elevates Ebola Response To Highest Level
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is raising its Ebola response to the highest level, agency officials said Friday, as the outbreak continues to spread uncontrolled across Congo and Uganda. “Elevating the response level reflects the urgency, scale, and complexity of the outbreak, and allows CDC to bring additional resources to support the coordination and operational needs of our response,” Satish Pillai, the CDC’s Ebola response incidence manager, told reporters. (Weixel, 6/26)
Bloomberg: Chaotic Push to Train Staff for US Ebola Outbreak Facility Alarms Health Workers
Thirty federal health service workers gathered last month at Joint Base Andrews in suburban Maryland to prepare for a trip to Africa, the first wave set to care for Americans exposed to a deadly Ebola outbreak ravaging communities across the continent. But participants quickly grew alarmed by what they described as a shambolic and hurried effort under intense pressure from Washington. (Nix, 6/26)
CIDRAP: As Ebola Deaths Top 300, African Officials Meet To Boost Regional Readiness
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) convened a three-day meeting Friday of African countries in hopes of strengthening regional preparedness for the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has now claimed more than 300 lives. The meeting was set to include officials from the DRC, neighboring Uganda, and 11 other high-risk African Union member states, along with the members of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other key technical partners. (Dall, 6/26)
The Guardian: Whereabouts Of Nearly 300 People With Ebola Unknown In DR Congo
The whereabouts of almost 300 people who have tested positive for Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is unknown, according to Africa’s top public health official. ... Modeling suggested the outbreak had a 70% chance of spreading to neighbouring South Sudan in the coming weeks. (Lay, 6/26)
Also —
The Wall Street Journal: Ebola Is Devastating Congo. Uganda Found A Way To Stop It.
It was no surprise that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo quickly jumped across the border into Uganda. Citizens of both countries routinely cross over to do business and visit relatives. The surprising part is that Uganda’s aggressive control methods appear to have stymied the spread of the deadly virus, in part by prohibiting people from hugging or even shaking hands. (Bariyo, 6/26)
The Independent: Fast-Spreading Ebola Outbreak In DRC Reflects Decades Of Development Failure, Says Red Cross
The lack of health, water, electricity and education services means that people in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have not only experienced Ebola, but also mpox and cholera in recent years, the head of delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross in the country said. (Ferris, 6/27)
NPR: Balancing The Risks Of Catching Ebola While Covering The Outbreak
NPR often relies on reporters going into dangerous places to get the story. It can mean covering a war, natural catastrophes, or highly contagious, deadly diseases — like the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that has killed hundreds of people so far. For this week’s Reporter’s Notebook, we hear from Emmet Livingstone about how he balances the risk of reporting in an area where Ebola is spreading. (Sánchez, Raney and Livingstone, 6/27)
