Osterholm Quotes

"We need a lot more information about the virology, the clinical presentation and the epidemiology of this virus [Ebola]. Nobody underestimates the difficulty of doing that research in these settings, but it is really important to get this information."

"[Because the disease was so sporadic before this outbreak] no one decided to invest the millions it would take to make for a vaccine against Ebola."

"If we start to quarantine people for 21 days, with no contact with the outside world, we will dry up the number of health care workers going to Africa."

"There is no magic boundary at the border. We shouldn't be surprised if we see [Ebola] cases."

"These are a major step forward in protecting workers from Ebola virus infection . . . but the recommendations just by themselves do not make for a safer work environment. . . . Training is critical. We need to train people how to use PPE safely and effectively."

"Basically, we’ve had a match thrown into a can of gas in West Africa. If this [Ebola] spreads to the rest of equatorial Africa, it will be like throwing a match into an open tanker truck of gas."

"The Ebola epidemic in West Africa could become an inflection point for fundamental reform of the WHO and usher in an era of direct United Nations engagement in health threats that could potentially destabilize nations and regions."

"We have to have a level of excellence. If that means putting the CDC in charge of these departments of public health, that means we have to find a way to do that."

"The [Ebola] virus is actually picking up the pace. Even as we add resources, we get farther behind."

"The key piece here is early recognition of an infection. Will people make the connection between travel to West Africa and the possibility the illness the patient is being seen for is due to the Ebola virus?"

"We're as vulnerable globally as our weakest link locally. We need to respond in virus time."

"Once someone hits a healthcare setting, asking about travel history should be a standard question today."

"The only guaranteed solution to ending this Ebola crisis is to develop, manufacture, and deliver an effective Ebola vaccine, potentially to most of the people in West Africa . . . and it is still a long way off."

“How will we contain this virus? I think ultimately it’s going to be vaccine, but that’s many months off. So get ready to deal with this for many more months to come.”

"The current Ebola virus’s hyper-evolution is unprecedented; there has been more human-to-human transmission in the past 4 months than most likely occurred in the last 500 to 1,000 years."

"MSF continues to provide the most honest, blunt, and informed assessment of where we’re at [with the West African Ebola outbreak]."

"I'd be the first one to say close the borders if it worked. . . . The chance

of protecting people from leaving is greater with an open system. The more

transparent you make it, the better you can control it."

"Vaccine and drug treatment right now is not going to be the main way you bring this to a stop."

"Unless we invest more resources in fighting it — and coordinate the response across countries — the [Ebola] outbreak will spread further. If that happens, economic and political chaos could follow."

"A case very well could fly out of Africa, only to be detected in some distant country."