90-Second Read: How to Contain the Ebola Outbreak

Two deadly outbreaks that could threaten Americans are unfolding simultaneously, Ebola in one part of the world, Hantavirus in another, with mortality rates of 25 to 50 percent and 38 percent, respectively, and no approved vaccines or treatments for either. In the case of the Hantavirus outbreak, nearly a month passed from when the first passenger aboard the affected cruise ship became sick, in April, to when the WHO confirmed the outbreak. To date, more than 600 suspected Ebola cases and 139 deaths have been recorded, making this the third-largest Ebola outbreak in history.

During the Biden administration, when we helped manage such crises as National Security Council staff, we responded to 12 outbreaks in Africa of Ebola or a related virus called Marburg. Between 10,000 and 100,000 Hantavirus cases occur worldwide every year, some of them in the United States. When Guinea notified the WHO of the outbreak, in March 2014, there were still only 49 cases and 29 deaths.

The government's guidance on the Hantavirus outbreak has been confusing, leaving some travelers, particularly passengers who went home rather than to the University of Nebraska Medical Center quarantine unit, without clear monitoring instructions. Unfortunately, no matter what actions the United States and the world take from here, enough time has passed that the Ebola outbreak will be difficult to contain. What has changed is the collective failure to detect and contain these threats before they spread across borders and became public-health emergencies.