As the Ebola outbreak continues to wreak havoc in West Africa, those who survived the disease in the past can now play an important role in responding to the current crisis, a top U.S. global health expert suggests.
In the past 10 years, almost 2,500 survivors of 11 outbreaks are still scattered around several African countries, according to data compiled by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“We know that the people who have had Ebola and survived and developed antibodies, we believe that they are resistant for about 10 years,” Lynn Black, chief medical officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told Devex. “Because the stigma is so profound, we’re going to start hiring the people who have had Ebola to come work with us.”
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.