Pregliasco: Ebola not a pandemic but irresponsible to underestimate

"The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a signal the world cannot afford to ignore. We are not facing a global pandemic scenario like Covid, because Ebola has very different and less efficient modes of transmission, but the risk of African regional expansion is concrete and serious, and it is irresponsible to underestimate the problem for Europe and Italia'.

Fabrizio Pregliasco, director of the school of specialisation in hygiene and preventive medicine at Milan's La Statale University, speaks out on the Ebola emergency after the African Union's health agency (Africa Cdc) explained that in addition to the DRC, the epicentre of the epidemic, and Uganda, ten other African countries are at risk of being hit by the virus.

"When Africa Cdc speaks of ten countries at risk, it is sending a clear message: surveillance, tracking, laboratories and international cooperation must be strengthened immediately.

Europe and Italia today,' warns the expert, are not in an imminent health emergency, but it would be irresponsible to underestimate the problem. After Covid we should have learnt a fundamental lesson: epidemics do not stop at borders'.

Italy's health security, he concludes, 'is also defended by supporting the health response in affected countries. Investments are needed in preparedness, in medicine of infectious diseases and in coordination with WHO and Africa Cdc.