Earlier ebola outbreaks and how the world overcame them

Scientists are confident enough to tackle ebola but they are thwarted by politics

The current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is only the second-largest inhistory, but undoubtedly the most frustrating.

Scientists are fairly certain they have the medical tools needed for victory: one vaccine that appears to work about 98 per cent of the time, another that has worked well in monkeys, and four therapies that may block the virus if they are given early enough.

Instead, scientists are being thwarted by the nightmarish conflicts and politics of eastern Congo. Health workers have been murdered, treatment centres have been torched, rumours have repeatedly outwrestled the truth. An overwhelming sense of