Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The award-winning genetic researcher who helped tame the Ebola epidemic pairs up with a prize-winning journalist to tell the story of what happened and what would have to change to prevent the next outbreak from spiraling out of control.
At the height of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, as thousands succumbed to the horrors of the disease, a prominent physician working in Sierra Leone, Sheikh Humarr Khan, became infected with the virus and died. As Pardis Sabeti and Lara Salahi show, much more could have been done within the medical community and among international actors to protect not only this renowned infectious disease expert but also the well-being of his patients and others affected by this devastating disease.
Written by an award-winning genetic researcher and a tenacious Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Outbreak Culture examines each phase of the epidemic--the largest and deadliest of its kind--and identifies the factors that kept key information from reaching physicians and complicated the government's response to the crisis. Drawing insights from clinical workers, data collectors, organizational experts, and scholars, Sabeti and Salahi expose a fractured system that failed to share knowledge of the virus and ensure containment.
Secrecy, competition, and poor coordination plague nearly every major epidemic. Conducted with fearless scrutiny and unassailable expertise, this postmortem of the Ebola crisis seeks to change the culture of international responders, which has left us acutely unprepared for the next major outbreak.
Synopsis
An award-winning genetic researcher who helped contain the Ebola outbreak and a prize-winning journalist reveal what it will take to prevent the next pandemic from spiraling out of control.
As we saw with our response to Ebola and Zika--and are seeing now with the disastrous early handling of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak--a lack of preparedness, delays in action, and large-scale system-wide problems with the distribution of critical medical resources can result in lost lives.
Outbreak Culture examines each phase of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa--one of the largest and deadliest epidemics to date--and identifies factors that prevented key information from reaching physicians. Drawing insights from clinical workers, data collectors, organizational experts, and public health researchers, Pardis Sabeti and Lara Salahi expose a fractured system that failed to gather and share knowledge of the virus and ensure timely containment. The authors describe how much more could have been done by global medical and political organizations to safeguard the well-being of caregivers, patients, and communities affected by this devastating outbreak and they outline changes that are urgently needed to ensure a more effective coordinated response to the next epidemic.
Secrecy, competition, and poor coordination plague nearly every major public health crisis--and we are seeing their deadly consequences play out again. A work of fearless integrity and unassailable authority, Outbreak Culture seeks to change the culture of responders.