In April of 2022, I was notified of a new Ebola outbreak in the D.R.C., in a city of a million on the Congo River. A 31-year-old man who had experienced a week of mounting fever arrived at a clinic and died soon after. Now, though, the medical officer on duty had received enough training to recognize possible signs of Ebola. The medical team had the gear on hand to protect themselves as well as the right lab equipment. They made the diagnosis and alerted the national public health authorities that very afternoon. Within 48 hours, they had people on site identifying contacts, and newly developed vaccines were shipped for … Continue reading Global immune system (Atul Gawande)