Fighting disease, like fighting fires: The lessons Ebola teaches

摘要

Disease fighting and firefighting share similar modus operandi. Both seek to first identify an outbreak-pyrotechnic or viral-and then contain its spread. Both demand an intensely spatial approach acknowledging the dynamic potential of an outbreak. This article considers the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak and the means by which its early potential for regional expansion was overlooked-as if it were a remote forest fire whose containment was not a priority. Its perspective is that of the field clinic or hospital and the sources of data that can be acquired as an outbreak matures. It argues for the use of modern GIS technologies in rural settings as a way of identifying outbreaks and their potential for regional diffusion. The goal is to provide background both for geographers not engaged in public health and those specifically engaged in medical epidemiology and medical geography.