Summary

West Africa’s Ebola epidemic exposed severe fragility in health, governance, economic and social systems, rapidly overwhelming national capacity and requiring international intervention.

Cascading Systems Affected

  • Health care systems and medical supply chains
  • Agriculture, trade & food distribution
  • International travel
  • Education, labour and social stability
  • Governance and political legitimacy

Impacts

  • 11,000+ deaths
  • Widespread economic collapse & humanitarian crisis
  • Restructuring of WHO emergency response systems