The latest on Ebola - Student Resources

Your Mission: T o stop the Ebola virus at the heart of the outbreak and from becoming a world-wide pandemic by evaluating the current situation and the strategies used by the world's leading health organizations

Review: Watch this quick review of the Ebola outbreak to refresh your knowledge of the ongoing international health crisis. You can also visit our Ebola outbreak: digital student guide for more information on a range of Ebola topics. Update: As of Dec. 8, the outbreak of Ebola has claimed the lives of 6,202 people and infected 17,551. There has been major media coverage of the cases of Ebola outside of Western Africa, however, they represent less than 3 percent of those infected with Ebola. The heart of the crisis still remains in Western Africa. Task: Review as many of the materials below, then use what you've learned to decide which strategies you believe will have the greatest impact and which ones you won't recommend to the global health community. Good luck!

Research and information updates: Outbreak history, current projections and more

1. World Health Organization | Ebola outbreaks 1976-2014 | Interactive story map

Use this data-rich interactive map from the World Health Organization to learn the history of the outbreaks in order to help calculate the risk of the current one.

2. CDC | Estimating the future number of cases in the Ebola epidemic—Liberia and Sierra Leone, 2014–2015 | Math worksheet

Apply math skills to estimate the spread of the Ebola virus and learn more about how the data is collected in "Science Insider: WHO, CDC publish grim new Ebola projections."

3. World Health Organization | How communities in Sierra Leone fought back Ebola case study | Photo story

When Ebola first swept through Port Loko District, Sierra Leone, the rash of sudden inexplicable deaths was so shocking local people explained it as "a witch plane crash." But as families began to sicken and die, they realized the epidemic would take human actions to reverse. Here is the story of what they did.

4. Science AAAS | Special collection: the Ebola epidemic | Research

Given the current outbreak, unprecedented in terms of number of people killed and rapid geographic spread, Science and Science Translational Medicine have made this collection of research and news articles on the viral disease freely available to researchers and the general public. "What does Ebola actually do" by Kelly Servick is a good overview.

5. S.Rogers | Two months in #Ebola on Twitter | Interactive map

This interactive map chronicles geo-tagged tweets mentioning Ebola from September to mid-October. Notice the spike around Oct. 1. What do you think caused the increase?

Strategies: Providing resources, p ublic health education, contact-tracing, vaccines, and more

How the experts are taking action

1. CDC | 2014 Ebola response: CDC in action | Infographic

Learn exactly how the CDC is contributing to the fight against Ebola, both at home and abroad.

2. Doctors without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontiers | Ebola response: Where are we now? | Informational text

Doctors without Borders' approach focuses on six elements designed to stop the spread of Ebola.

3. CDC | Director Dr. Tom Frieden - We’re ‘nowhere near out of the woods’ on Ebola | Video

Dr. Tom Frieden reviews how the CDC is taking action both at home and abroad with PBS NewsHour.

4. NOVA | Surviving Ebola | Video

As the epidemic threatens to spiral out of control, NOVA reports from the hot zone, where courageous medical teams struggle to cope with a flood of victims, and labs where scientists are racing to test vaccines and find a cure. "Surviving Ebola" includes chilling first-hand interviews of what it’s like to catch and survive this terrible affliction.

Contact Tracing

1. CDC | What is contact tracing? | Infographic

Learn about one invaluable strategy used by public health experts to halt the spread of an outbreak.

Vaccines

1. NOVA PBS |Immunity and vaccines explained | Video

Learn the basics of the immune system, the process your body goes through to protect you from harmful germs, from this NOVA animated video.

2. PBS NewsHour | Is an Ebola vaccine on the horizon? | Video

Researchers from the National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline report that an experimental vaccine has been proven safe and successful in stimulating an immune response against Ebola.

Public health education

1. CDC | What you really need to know about Ebola CDC | Slideshow

This slide show delivers important answers to questions people may wonder, but are afraid to ask, for example, "Can my dog get Ebola?"

2. CDC | Stopping the Ebola outbreak | Infographic

Use this infographic to help the public understand the different steps and stages of the CDC protocol for treating patients who might be infected with the Ebola virus.

3. CDC | Ebolavirus ecology | Infographic

Where do we think Ebola comes from, and how did it spread to humans? Use this simple infographic to visually walk through the ecology of Ebola.

Quarantines

1. The New England Journal of Medicine | Ebola and quarantine by Jeffrey M. Drazen, M.D | Informational text

Medical experts agree that using quarantines unnecessarily may do more harm than good. In this article, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, lead author Dr. Jeffery Drazen responds to the actions of states who have enacted quarantine initiatives. 2. PBS NewsHour |Understanding The U.S. Guidelines On Ebola Quarantine | Video New guidelines from the CDC recommend voluntary at-home isolation for health care workers returning from West Africa who are in a so-called high-risk category. Are those guidelines are strict enough? Judy Woodruff talks to Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases about how health officials determine the right course of action.

Recommendation: after evaluating the materials, describe a course of action

Complete the "Ebola outbreak update – Evaluation and recommendations" by selecting the best strategies to combat the deadly virus.