The Ebola Crisis

Renewed Ebola outbreak threatens the Congo as COVID-19 spreads

By Anthony Torres, 23 April 2020

Already afflicted by a growing COVID-19 pandemic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen three new Ebola cases including two deaths in recent weeks.

Mozambique health care workers speak on struggle to control tuberculosis

By Zaida Green, 7 January 2015

In a recent issue of the science and medicine journal PLOS ONE, health care workers in Mozambique described the challenges they face in treating tuberculosis.

British nurse in critical condition with Ebola

By Barry Mason, 5 January 2015

So far more than 7,800 people have been killed by the Ebola virus.

Ebola epidemic: West African governments prohibit public Christmas celebrations

By Bernd Sackow, 27 December 2014

The measures taken are more akin to those used by a police state to control the population and they symbolise the inadequacy of the medical measures to fight the Ebola epidemic.

Ebola epidemic continues to ravage West Africa

By Niles Williamson, 4 December 2014

The death toll from the ongoing Ebola epidemic has officially surpassed 6,000, with more than 17,145 reported cases of infection.

Amid meager international assistance, Ebola death toll in Africa surges past five thousand

By Gabriel Black, 15 November 2014

The medical response to Ebola remains woefully inadequate, as hundreds more are infected each week.

Canada imposes draconian travel restrictions citing Ebola crisis

By Roger Jordan, 4 November 2014

Canada’s decision reflects the callous indifference of the government to the plight of the growing numbers of people suffering as a result of the spread of Ebola in Africa.

Capitalism and the Ebola crisis

By Niles Williamson, 1 November 2014

The Ebola epidemic that is devastating West Africa is a product of the imperialist subjugation of the continent and the subordination of all social needs to the capitalist system and the profit motive that drives it.

Obama uses Ebola doctors as campaign prop

By Patrick Martin, 30 October 2014

The media event at the White House, five days before the congressional election, was aimed at giving US imperialism a “humanitarian” face.

Australia shuts door to Ebola-hit countries

By Mike Head, 29 October 2014

The callous, short-sighted and nationalist decision has set a new benchmark for the response of governments around the world toward the disaster.

Ebola nurse treated “like a criminal” in New Jersey quarantine

By Patrick Martin, 28 October 2014

Kaci Hickox was detained on the orders of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, despite having no symptoms of disease.

As World Health Organization, drug companies meet

Why is there no vaccine for Ebola?

By Patrick Martin, 25 October 2014

There are several reports that after the US National Institutes of Health developed an Ebola vaccine that worked in monkeys, major drug companies refused to develop it further because it was not profitable.

Ebola crisis: Major powers line up to send troops to Africa

By Jean Shaoul, 23 October 2014

The imperialist powers are using the Ebola outbreak as a cover for re-establishing a military presence in their former African colonies.

Sharp rise of Ebola cases in western Sierra Leone

By Kate Randall, 22 October 2014

There are now 851 confirmed cases of Ebola and an estimated 20 deaths a day in two western Sierra Leone districts.

Pleas to major powers from Ebola-stricken countries, health professionals fall on deaf ears

By Patrick Martin, 20 October 2014

The major imperialist powers and the drug companies are leaving tens of thousands to die.

Government indifference compounds Ebola disaster

By Kate Randall, 18 October 2014

A UN trust fund for Ebola has only $100,000 on hand, a fraction of the nearly $1 billion the world body says is needed to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

Australian government refuses to send teams to fight Ebola

By Mike Head, 18 October 2014

While the Abbott government rushed to dispatch military forces to the Middle East, it has rejected calls to help fight the worsening health crisis in Africa.

Lack of training, safety at Texas hospital where nurses contracted Ebola

By Kate Randall, 17 October 2014

Texas Health Presbyterian’s handling of Ebola cases has come under fire from registered nurses at the hospital.

Ebola in America

By Andre Damon, 16 October 2014

The incompetent and irresponsible response to the Ebola crisis in the US stands as an indictment of the American political establishment.

Who is responsible for the Ebola virus case in Spain?

By Kelly Taylor, 16 October 2014

Last Friday, nurses protested against the risks they face in treating Ebola patients.

World Health Organization says Ebola cases could reach 10,000 per week

By Andre Damon, 15 October 2014

The figures came as the head of the National Institutes of Health said that the US would likely have already developed a vaccine for Ebola if budget cuts had not slashed research funding.

WHO, CDC heads warn of Ebola epidemic’s dangers

By Niles Williamson, 14 October 2014

The head of WHO described the vast social and economic inequalities highlighted by the Ebola crisis, saying, “The rich get the best care. The poor are left to die.”

Health care workers protest conditions faced in treating Ebola

By our reporter, 14 October 2014

Healthcare workers in several countries have protested the lack of training and equipment necessary for safely treating those infected with Ebola and halting the spread of the virus.

Political issues in the Ebola crisis

By Patrick Martin, 13 October 2014

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa requires immediate, massive global action to save lives and prevent the spread of the disease.

World powers stand by as Ebola death toll passes 4,000

By Niles Williamson, 11 October 2014

The United States and other Western powers are seeking to take advantage of the crisis sparked by the deadly Ebola epidemic, not to save the victims, but to establish a stronger military presence in West Africa.

US exploiting West Africa Ebola outbreak to establish military foothold

By Niles Williamson, 4 October 2014

More than 7,000 have fallen ill and more than 3,300 have died in the current epidemic, the most widespread outbreak since the disease was first identified 28 years ago.

First Ebola case diagnosed in US

By Shannon Jones, 2 October 2014

A man from Liberia visiting family in Texas is the first person in the US diagnosed with the deadly virus.

Imperialism and the Ebola catastrophe

By Patrick Martin, 26 September 2014

The epidemic now devastating West Africa is not a natural calamity, but a social one: it is a product of colonialism and imperialist oppression.

Ebola outbreak grows exponentially

By David Brown, 25 September 2014

International health agencies predict the Ebola outbreak in West Africa could affect hundreds of thousands.

Obama uses Ebola crisis to “surge” 3,000 troops into West Africa

By Bill Van Auken, 17 September 2014

The response to the Ebola epidemic underscores the reliance of US imperialism on its residual military superiority in the second “scramble for Africa”, which pits it against China.

Ebola outbreak grows

By David Brown, 13 September 2014

The ebola outbreak in West Africa continues to overwhelm health care workers.

Cuts to World Health Organization budget intensify Ebola epidemic

By Thomas Gaist, 5 September 2014

Austerity measures imposed after the 2008 crisis have hampered any coordinated international response to the outbreak.

Clashes in Monrovia, Liberia as West African Ebola epidemic grows

By Niles Williamson, 22 August 2014

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced late Tuesday the imposition of a nationwide curfew and quarantines as part of an effort to halt the spread of the Ebola virus.

International emergency declared in Ebola outbreak

By John Rowe, 11 August 2014

The Ebola virus has already claimed the lives of nearly a thousand people in West Africa, amid a breakdown of health care systems in the impoverished region.

Ebola epidemic highlights poverty in Africa

By David Brown, 1 August 2014

Sierra Leone has mobilized its military and Liberia has closed its schools in response to the uncontained Ebola outbreak.

Ebola outbreak kills hundreds in West Africa

By David Brown, 29 July 2014

Liberia has closed most of its borders in response to an Ebola outbreak that has killed one doctor and infected two others.

Ebola outbreak spreads in West Africa

By John Rowe, 9 July 2014

International agencies say that the deadly Ebola virus is spreading out of control in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Ebola outbreak in the Congo

By Barry Mason, 27 February 2003

On February 19 the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva confirmed that an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in the Cuvette Ouest region of northwest Congo-Brazzaville, near its border with Gabon, was due to the Ebola virus.

Deadly Ebola outbreak spreads in Uganda

By Chris Talbot, 21 October 2000

Deaths from Ebola, one of the most deadly viruses known to man, now total 41 in Uganda. 17 new cases were reported in a 24-hour period up to October 18. The first instances of the disease were reported at one of the hospitals in Gulu, a town in northern Uganda, where three nursing students died. Both hospitals in Gulu, already overstretched and under funded, are now attempting to deal with the disease with assistance from World Health Organisation (WHO) experts.