WASHINGTON – When it comes to the Ebola outbreak, there is still “no strategic plan of how we’re going to bring this under control,” a prestigious Washington think tank warned this week.
Council on Foreign Relations senior fellows John Campbell and Laurie Garrett said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday there is no plan for controlling the Ebola virus.
“What will be the global strategy if this disease shows up elsewhere?” said Laurie Garrett, the council’s senior fellow on global health.
The Ebola outbreak has killed more than 900 people since February and has no proven cure. A second American citizen infected with the virus arrived in the United States Wednesday for treatment.
The White House, in a statement, said the ongoing Ebola scare in West Africa “underscores the need to build Africa’s capacity to prevent the emergence of global health threats, to detect threats early, and to respond rapidly and effectively.”
When asked what an international plan to control the virus might look like, Garrett said we should look at the past and try not to repeat our mistakes.
“In 2009, we had an outbreak of H1N1 influenza, sometimes referred to as swine flu,” said Garrett. The U.S,., response, closing borders and grounding some flights, “sent a message to the whole world, ‘wow! Don’t comply with regulations, don’t try to be a good global citizen in an outbreak because the rest of the world is going to really not be kind to you for doing so.”
“The issues are extraordinarily difficult,” said John Campbell, the council’s senior fellow on African policy. “In many cases we’re dealing with very weak states.”
Ebola was not left out of the conversation during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington.
“We are grateful for the presence of their delegations, even as these countries are focused on a very difficult situation back home,” President Obama said at the opening of the summit. “And on behalf of all of us here today, our thoughts and prayers are with those who’ve been affected by the Ebola outbreak, especially those who’ve lost loved ones.”
The Council on Foreign relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization and think tank set to inform people on foreign policy.
To hear more from Garrett and Campbell, listen here: