Leading Ebola expert says stopping the outbreak is not rocket science

(Vatican Radio) One of the world’s leading experts on Ebola says the current epidemic of the deadly virus in West Africa is a tragedy that could have been avoided with simple and more “robust” measures at the outset.  Dr David Heymann, who played an active role in the first known outbreak of Ebola in the 1970’s and who now heads Britain’s public health protection agency, said stopping Ebola does not take “rocket science.”  He told Susy Hodges that there are three key strategies for preventing the spread of the disease.  

Listen to the full interview with Dr David Heymann, expert on Ebola and head of the Centre on Global Health Security at the Chatham House think tank in London: 

Asked for his take on the current Ebola outbreak ravaging West Africa, Dr Heymann described it as an “tragedy” where unfortunately “the initial response was not robust enough” (to stop it from spreading). 

“Stopping outbreaks of Ebola,” he said, “does not take rocket science” and the successful control of this deadly disease can be achieved using a simple three-part strategy.  These strategies are the rapid identification and isolation of patients, tracing all contacts of Ebola patients and community understanding where people are taught how to behave and deal with suspected cases of the disease. 

Dr Heymann spoke about how the role of faith-based organisations such as the Catholic Church, is “very important” in any disease epidemic.  The reason, he explained, is because “religious leaders are trusted by the community and they’re the ones that can do a very good job in getting the message through.”

Asked what we know about the primary transmission source of the Ebola virus, Dr Heymann confirmed that fruit bats are known to be carriers of the Ebola virus but said sometimes it’s an intermediate animal like a chimpanzee that will then spread the virus to humans if they are killed and eaten by people.