By Ivan Buendia Gayton and Eric D. PerakslisJuly 7, 2026
Gayton is a technologist and humanitarian adviser. Perakslis, is an engineer, scientist, and former strategic adviser for innovation for Médecins Sans Frontières who served in West Africa during the 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak and supported Ebola response efforts in the DRC during the 2018–2020 outbreaks.
In 2014, we came far closer to losing control of Ebola than most people realize. We witnessed impossible choices daily, such as watching treatment centers turning away infected patients because there were no beds left.
The epidemic eventually receded, but not because anyone had mastered Ebola. It ended because of extraordinary international cooperation, local adaptations, and no small measure of luck.
Today, as a new Ebola outbreak unfolds in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, most of those conditions are absent. The greatest risk is not that this outbreak spreads. It is that it never ends.
