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Good morning. STAT’s Breakthrough Summit West is today! It’s not too late to attend virtually. We’ve got a packed agenda including speakers like former FDA commissioner David Kessler, OpenEvidence founder Zachary Ziegler, and 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki. And, of course, a bunch of my talented STAT colleagues.
The latest on Ebola: A travel ban and an old vaccine
The Trump administration is banning foreign travelers from entering the U.S. if they’ve been in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, or South Sudan in the past 21 days, according to a CDC order issued yesterday. The ban — the first ever imposed by the U.S. in response to an Ebola outbreak — is in effect for 30 days. Read more from STAT’s Annalisa Merelli and Helen Branswell on the details, including updates on the American doctor who is confirmed to have been infected.
Meanwhile, experts are looking for potential strategies to contain the outbreak, which has already become the fourth largest on record. The World Health Organization and expert scientists are debating whether an existing vaccine for a different species of Ebola could help. But as Helen reports in her latest, any decision about using the drug will be left to the affected countries. “It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation,” said virologist Darryl Falzarano, who worked on an animal study that showed the vaccine had some cross-protection potential. Read more from Helen on what might be possible.
