Viral complacency

The World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared that the Ebola epidemic in West Africa no longer represents an international public-health emergency. But as experts also warned last week, there must be no let-up in improving readiness for the next Ebola outbreak — including the nightmare prospect of an epidemic in the megacities of Africa.

An expert panel of researchers convened by the London-based Wellcome Trust and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, warned in particular that support for Ebola vaccine research must not be allowed to slip. Although a successful experimental Ebola vaccine has been developed, much work remains to be done if safe and effective vaccines are to be ready in sufficient amounts to quickly nip future outbreaks in the bud.

“As Ebola infection rates come under control it’s a huge concern that complacency sets in, attention moves to more immediate threats, and Ebola vaccine development is left half-finished,” cautioned Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome. Too often in the past, the world has stumbled from epidemic to epidemic, failing to learn the lessons of the last. Emergency responses to the latest threat capture headlines, research and political attention. But too often this attention quickly fades.

see more at: http://www.nature.com/news/viral-complacency-1.19687