Ebola

===2013–2016 West Africa===
{{main|West African Ebola virus epidemic}}
[[File:Diseased Ebola 2014.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Cases and deaths from April 2014 to July 2015 during the [[Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa|2013–2015 outbreak]]]]

In March 2014, the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) reported a major Ebola outbreak in [[Guinea]], a West African nation.<ref name="CDC2014Out">{{Cite web |date=1 August 2014 |title=Guidelines for Evaluation of US Patients Suspected of Having Ebola Virus Disease |url=https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/24830 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808075214/http://emergency.cdc.gov/han/han00364.asp |archive-date=8 August 2014 |access-date=5 August 2014 |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC)}}</ref> Researchers traced the outbreak to a one-year-old child who died in December 2013.<ref name="Baize2014">{{Cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Baize S, Pannetier D, Oestereich L, Rieger T, Koivogui L, Magassouba N, Soropogui B, Sow MS, Keïta S, De Clerck H, Tiffany A, Dominguez G, Loua M, Traoré A, Kolié M, Malano ER, Heleze E, Bocquin A, Mély S, Raoul H, Caro V, Cadar D, Gabriel M, Pahlmann M, Tappe D, Schmidt-Chanasit J, Impouma B, Diallo AK, Formenty P, Van Herp M, Günther S |date=October 2014 |title=Emergence of Zaire Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2fac/85d09a91e4b0f670afda192af30d9620498b.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=371 |issue=15 |pages=1418–1425 |doi=10.1056/NEJMoa1404505 |pmid=24738640 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221224737/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2fac/85d09a91e4b0f670afda192af30d9620498b.pdf |archive-date=21 February 2019 |s2cid=34198809}}</ref><ref name="1st Chain">{{Cite web |name-list-style=vanc |year=2014 |title=The first cases of this Ebola outbreak traced by WHO |url=http://who.int/csr/disease/ebola/ebola-6-months/guinea-chart-big.png?ua=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092047/http://who.int/csr/disease/ebola/ebola-6-months/guinea-chart-big.png?ua=1 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) |format=png |ref=1st-chain}}</ref> The disease rapidly spread to the neighbouring countries of [[Liberia]] and [[Sierra Leone]]. It was the largest Ebola outbreak ever documented, and the first recorded in the region.<ref name="CDC2014Out" /> On 8 August 2014, the WHO declared the epidemic an international public health emergency. Urging the world to offer aid to the affected regions, its Director-General said, "Countries affected to date simply do not have the capacity to manage an outbreak of this size and complexity on their own. I urge the international community to provide this support on the most urgent basis possible."<ref>{{Cite news |title=WHO raises global alarm over Ebola outbreak |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-outbreak-international-public-health-emergency-who/ |url-status=live |access-date=2 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808095616/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ebola-outbreak-international-public-health-emergency-who/ |archive-date=8 August 2014 }}</ref> By mid-August 2014, [[Doctors Without Borders]] reported the situation in Liberia's capital, [[Monrovia]], was "catastrophic" and "deteriorating daily". They reported that fears of Ebola among staff members and patients had shut down much of the city's health system, leaving many people without medical treatment for other conditions.<ref name="Common Dreams">{{Cite web | vauthors = Fulton D |date=18 August 2014 |title=In Liberia's Ebola-Stricken Villages, Residents Face 'Stark' Choices |url=http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/18/liberias-ebola-stricken-villages-residents-face-stark-choices |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820041111/http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/08/18/liberias-ebola-stricken-villages-residents-face-stark-choices |archive-date=20 August 2014 |access-date=20 August 2014 |publisher=Common Dreams }}</ref> In a 26 September statement, WHO said, "The Ebola epidemic ravaging parts of West Africa is the most severe acute public health emergency seen in modern times. Never before in recorded history has a [[biosafety level]] four pathogen infected so many people so quickly, over such a broad geographical area, for so long."<ref name="Ebola situation assessment ">{{Cite press release |title=Experimental therapies: growing interest in the use of whole blood or plasma from recovered Ebola patients (convalescent therapies) |date=26 September 2014 |publisher=World Health Organization (WHO) |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/26-september-2014/en/ |access-date=28 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140928143036/https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/26-september-2014/en/ |archive-date=28 September 2014 }}</ref>

Intense contact tracing and strict isolation largely prevented further spread of the disease in the countries that had imported cases. {{#section:Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa|casesasof}}, {{#section:Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa|cases}} suspected cases and {{#section:Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa|deaths}} deaths were reported;{{#section:Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa|caserefs}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2014 |title=2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa – Case Counts |url=https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806135144/https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/index.html |archive-date=6 August 2017 |publisher=[[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC) }}</ref> however, the WHO said that these numbers may be underestimated.<ref name="Ebola_Outbreak_total_WHO_28_Sept">{{Cite web |date=1 October 2014 |title=Ebola Response Roadmap Situation Report |url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/135600/1/roadmapsitrep_1Oct2014_eng.pdf?ua=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141002142707/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/135600/1/roadmapsitrep_1Oct2014_eng.pdf?ua=1 |archive-date=2 October 2014 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) }}</ref> Because they work closely with the body fluids of infected patients, healthcare workers were especially vulnerable to infection; in August 2014, the WHO reported that 10% of the dead were healthcare workers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 August 2014 |title=Unprecedented number of medical staff infected with Ebola |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/25-august-2014/en/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828123825/https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/ebola/25-august-2014/en/ |archive-date=28 August 2014 |access-date=29 August 2014 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO)}}</ref>

[[File:2014 ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa]]

In September 2014, it was estimated that the countries' capacity for treating Ebola patients was insufficient by the equivalent of 2,122 beds; by December there were a sufficient number of beds to treat and isolate all reported Ebola cases, although the uneven distribution of cases was causing serious shortfalls in some areas.<ref name="WHO2014_12_10">{{Cite web |date=10 December 2014 |title=Ebola response roadmap – Situation report |url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/145198/1/roadmapsitrep_10Dec2014_eng.pdf?ua=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210214551/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/145198/1/roadmapsitrep_10Dec2014_eng.pdf?ua=1 |archive-date=10 December 2014 |access-date=11 December 2014 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) |format=PDF}}</ref> On 28 January 2015, the WHO reported that for the first time since the week ending 29 June 2014, there had been fewer than 100 new confirmed cases reported in a week in the three most-affected countries. The response to the epidemic then moved to a second phase, as the focus shifted from slowing transmission to ending the epidemic.<ref name="World Health Organization">{{Cite web |date=28 January 2015 |title=Ebola Situation Report |url=http://apps.who.int/ebola/en/ebola-situation-report/situation-reports/ebola-situation-report-28-january-2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203214717/http://apps.who.int/ebola/en/ebola-situation-report/situation-reports/ebola-situation-report-28-january-2015 |archive-date=3 February 2015 |access-date=5 February 2015 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) }}</ref> On 8 April 2015, the WHO reported only 30 confirmed cases, the lowest weekly total since the third week of May 2014.<ref name="WHO">{{Cite web |date=8 April 2015 |title=Ebola Situation Report |url=http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/161244/1/roadmapsitrep_8Apr2015_eng.pdf?ua=1&ua=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414170339/http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/161244/1/roadmapsitrep_8Apr2015_eng.pdf?ua=1&ua=1 |archive-date=14 April 2015 |access-date=14 April 2015 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO) }}</ref>

On 29 December 2015, 42 days after the last person tested negative for a second time, Guinea was declared free of Ebola transmission.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 December 2015 |title=Ebola gone from Guinea |publisher=[[CBC News]] |agency=Thomson Reuters |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ebola-guinea-1.3382945 |url-status=live |access-date=30 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230001240/http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ebola-guinea-1.3382945 |archive-date=30 December 2015}}</ref> At that time, a 90-day period of heightened surveillance was announced by that agency. "This is the first time that all three countries – Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone – have stopped the original chains of transmission ...", the organisation stated in a news release.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=UN declares end to Ebola virus transmission in Guinea; first time all three host countries free |publisher=United Nations |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52913 |access-date=30 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101115517/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52913 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |author=<!-- no by-line. --> |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> A new case was detected in Sierra Leone on 14 January 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 January 2016 |title=New Ebola case in Sierra Leone. WHO continues to stress risk of more flare-ups |url=https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2016/new-ebola-case/en/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127143222/https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2016/new-ebola-case/en/ |archive-date=27 January 2016 |access-date=25 January 2016 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] (WHO)}}</ref> However, the outbreak was declared no longer an emergency on 29 March 2016.<ref name="who.int" />

====2014 spread outside West Africa====
{{main|Ebola virus cases in the United States|Ebola virus disease in Spain|Ebola virus disease in the United Kingdom}}
On 19 September, Eric Duncan flew from his native Liberia to Texas; five days later he began showing symptoms and visited a hospital but was sent home. His condition worsened and he returned to the hospital on 28 September, where he died on 8 October. Health officials confirmed a diagnosis of Ebola on 30 September – the first case in the United States.<ref>{{Cite news | vauthors = Botelho G, Wilson J |date=8 October 2014 |title=Thomas Eric Duncan: First Ebola death in U.S. |publisher=CNN |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/thomas-eric-duncan-ebola/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=8 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529040652/http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/08/health/thomas-eric-duncan-ebola/index.html |archive-date=29 May 2016}}</ref>

In early October, Teresa Romero, a 44-year-old Spanish nurse, contracted Ebola after caring for a priest who had been repatriated from West Africa. This was the first transmission of the virus to occur outside Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Second US Ebola diagnosis 'deeply concerning', admits CDC chief |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/second-us-ebola-diagnosis-deeply-concerning-admits-cdc-chief/ar-BB8UFz0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014175544/http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/second-us-ebola-diagnosis-deeply-concerning-admits-cdc-chief/ar-BB8UFz0 |archive-date=14 October 2014 |access-date=20 February 2020 |website=[[MSN]]}}archive-url= October 2013</ref> Romero tested negative for the disease on 20 October, suggesting that she may have recovered from Ebola infection.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 October 2014 |title=Ebola crisis: Tests show Spanish nurse Teresa Romero no longer has the virus |work=ABC News |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-20/spanish-nurse-infected-with-ebola-no-longer-has-virus/5825720 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029201132/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-20/spanish-nurse-infected-with-ebola-no-longer-has-virus/5825720 |archive-date=29 October 2014 }}</ref>

On 12 October, the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC) confirmed that a nurse in Texas, [[Nina Pham]], who had treated Duncan tested positive for the Ebola virus, the first known case of transmission in the United States.<ref name="NYT-20141012-MF">{{Cite news | vauthors = Fernandez M |date=12 October 2014 |title=Texas Health Worker Tests Positive for Ebola |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/us/texas-health-worker-tests-positive-for-ebola.html |url-status=live |access-date=12 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141012162113/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/13/us/texas-health-worker-tests-positive-for-ebola.html |archive-date=12 October 2014}}</ref> On 15 October, a second Texas health-care worker who had treated Duncan was confirmed to have the virus.<ref name="NBC-ebolaTX" /><ref>{{Cite news |title=Ebola in Texas: Second Health Care Worker Tests Positive |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-texas-second-health-care-worker-tests-positive-n226161 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015211852/http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ebola-virus-outbreak/ebola-texas-second-health-care-worker-tests-positive-n226161 |archive-date=15 October 2014}}</ref> Both of these people recovered.<ref name="CDC-20142411">{{Cite web |date=22 May 2018 |title=Cases of Ebola Diagnosed in the United States |url=https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/united-states-imported-case.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226055827/https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/united-states-imported-case.html |archive-date=26 February 2017 }}</ref> An unrelated case involved a doctor in New York City, who returned to the United States from Guinea after working with [[Médecins Sans Frontières]] and tested positive for Ebola on 23 October.<ref>{{Cite news | vauthors = Sanchez R, Prokupecz S |date=23 October 2014 |title=N.Y. doctor positive for Ebola had no symptoms until Thursday, officials say |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/23/health/new-york-possible-ebola-case/index.html |url-status=live |access-date=23 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024022702/http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/23/health/new-york-possible-ebola-case/index.html?hpt=hp_t1 |archive-date=24 October 2014 }}</ref> The person recovered and was discharged from [[Bellevue Hospital]] on 11 November.<ref name="CDC-20142411" /> On 24 December 2014, a laboratory in [[Atlanta]], Georgia reported that a technician had been exposed to Ebola.<ref>{{Cite news | vauthors = Sun LH, Achenbach J |date=24 December 2014 |title=CDC reports potential Ebola exposure in Atlanta lab |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-reports-potential-ebola-exposure-in-atlanta-lab/2014/12/24/f1a9f26c-8b8e-11e4-8ff4-fb93129c9c8b_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=25 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141225002131/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-reports-potential-ebola-exposure-in-atlanta-lab/2014/12/24/f1a9f26c-8b8e-11e4-8ff4-fb93129c9c8b_story.html |archive-date=25 December 2014}}</ref>

On 29 December 2014, [[Pauline Cafferkey]], a British nurse who had just returned to [[Glasgow]] from Sierra Leone, was diagnosed with Ebola at Glasgow's [[Gartnavel General Hospital]].<ref name="BBC-30628349">{{Cite news |date=29 December 2014 |title=Ebola case confirmed in Glasgow hospital |work=BBC News Online |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30628349 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229191607/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30628349 |archive-date=29 December 2014}}</ref> After initial treatment in Glasgow, she was transferred by air to [[RAF Northolt]], then to the specialist [[high-level isolation unit]] at the [[Royal Free Hospital]] in [[London]] for longer-term treatment.<ref name="BBC-30629397">{{Cite news |date=30 December 2014 |title=Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey transferred to London unit |work=BBC News Online |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30629397 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230120858/http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-30629397 |archive-date=30 December 2014}}</ref>