Dean’s Symposium on Ebola

On Tuesday, October 14, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health hosted a symposium on the Ebola epidemic—one of the most significant public health challenges in recent memory. WHO reports more than 8,000 cases and more than 3,800 deaths as of October 5 in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The situation in those three most affected countries continues to deteriorate with widespread and persistent transmission. There is no evidence that the epidemic is being brought under control. Most experts believe the known cases and deaths are significantly underreported. WHO also reports that 401 health care workers have been infected and 232 have died.

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been attributed to a separate introduction of the virus into humans. There also have been imported cases in Senegal, Nigeria and the U.S. In addition, the first documented transmission of Ebola virus outside of the West Africa has occurred in Spain. 

Speakers

Speakers discussed the impact of the West Africa epidemic, current and future response, the status of vaccines and possible pharmacologic therapies, recommendations to prevent spread of the disease outside of West Africa, and other issues.

• Ronald J. Daniels, JD, LLM, president, Johns Hopkins University
• Michael J. Klag, MD, MPH ’87, dean, JHSPH
• Andrew Pekosz, PhD, associate professor, Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, JHSPH
• Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health and Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), University of Minnesota
• Trish Perl, MD, MSc, professor, Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and senior epidemiologist, Johns Hopkins Health System
• David Peters, MD, Chair, International Health, JHSPH
• Nancy Kass, ScD, Deputy Director for Public Health, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University
• Richard Rothman, MD, PhD, vice chair, Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Joshua Epstein, PhD, professor, Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Joshua Michaud, PhD, International Development, SAIS, Johns Hopkins University
• Peter Jahrling, PhD, chief scientist, NIAID Integrated Research Facility
• Peter Agre, MD, director of the Malaria Research Institute, JHSPH
• Joshua Sharfstein, MD, Maryland’s Secretary of Health & Mental Hygiene
• Gabor "Gabe" Kelen, MD, chair, Emergency Medicine; director, Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
• Derek A.T. Cummings, PhD, associate professor, Department of Epidemiology, JHSPH
• William “Bill” Glass, director of Strategic Communication Programs, Center for Communication Programs, JHSPH
• Lenny Bernstein, health correspondent, Washington Post

Please continue to follow this important conversation on Twitter @JohnsHopkinsSPH #EbolaForum for post-Forum news updates.

More Information

Email: jhsph.events@jhu.edu