Foreword
The International Challenges of Containing an Infectious Disease
Ebola hemorrhagic fever was first discovered in 1976 in the small village of Yambuku in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), near the Ebola River for which the virus is named. The mysterious illness raged through the remote area, but was finally controlled through quarantines and improved medical practices. Over the following years, other serious outbreaks occurred in the DRC, Gabon, the Sudans, and Uganda. The current outbreak, centered in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leona, is the largest on record and the most complex. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more…
