The Ebola virus causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated. The 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak since the virus was first discovered in 1976. There were more cases and deaths in this outbreak than all others combined. It also spread between countries, starting in Guinea then moving across land borders to Sierra Leone and Liberia.
On Tuesday, April 3, a panel of experts will convene to discuss, “Lessons from the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa,” at the Bloustein School’s Governor James J. Florio Special Events Forum, 33 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. The event will begin at 4:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public. No RSVP is needed.
Some of the questions the panelists will discuss these questions include: What was the West African Ebola epidemic? What made Ebola a regional crisis? What structural problems hampered responses in the countries? How did Nigeria defeat Ebola? What is the moral terrain of care? What lessons did the humanitarian agencies learn? What are the wider challenges in tackling epidemic disease?
Presented by the Center for African Studies, the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and the Department of History, the panelists will include Francis Barchi, Professor of Global Health Studies at the Bloustein School; Allen Howard, Rutgers Professor Emeritus of History; Kristin Peterson, Professor of Anthropology, UC Irvine; Ismail Rashid, Professor of History, Vassar College; and Meredeth Turshen, Professor of Public Health Policy, Bloustein School.