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Article: The hobbled horseman.(Ebola virus outbreak in Zaire)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- May 20, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Though the Ebola virus may be the world's most vicious virus, the biggest single killer is still the tuberculosis bacillus. We look at these two threats to the world's health, and at the problems of the organisation meant to be fighting them
ONE thing about the Ebola virus which has not been exaggerated is its efficiency. By May 16th, less than two months after the virus first came to light in the general hospital of Kikwit, a town in Zaire, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had reported 93 infections and 86 deaths. That fits the pattern established in 1976, when the disease made its first recorded appearance. Then, it killed 290 out of the 318 people it infected. ...