The dry season has arrived in Ebola-affected West Africa, and that could be both a blessing and a curse for responders on the ground working to contain the virus.
Since the outbreak was first detected in May, summer and fall rains in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone turn roads into pits of mud, virtually impassable by vehicles transporting food, health care supplies or medical personnel.
Now that the rains have passed and three months of dry season are expected, aid workers hope to be more effective in distributing food and supplies quickly. However, that also means Ebola itself can spread more easily than before — a threat that U.S. response coordinators are taking pains to address.