Kim Lindblade, PhD, MPH is director of research for the Indiana University Center for Global Health and co-director of research for AMPATH Kenya, a 35-year partnership between Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya and a consortium of universities around the world led by IU. A former CDC epidemiologist, she helped lead Ebola response efforts during the 2014-15 West African epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Her expertise has been helpful for IU’s partners in Kenya as they prepare for the potential of an imported case.
Question: What is happening with the current Ebola outbreak?
Lindblade: The current outbreak involves the Bundibugyo species of Ebola virus and is centered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a small number of additional cases reported in Uganda and one case imported to France. While the vast majority of infections remain confined to those countries, neighboring nations are on high alert because people and goods move across borders every day. Public health officials are working to identify cases quickly, isolate infected patients, monitor close contacts, and provide safe and respectful burials to prevent further spread.
Q: Why is Kenya paying such close attention?
Lindblade: Western Kenya has extensive travel and trade connections with Uganda and eastern DRC. Eldoret, where the AMPATH Kenya partnership is based, is a major transportation hub for truck drivers traveling throughout East Africa. Because of those connections, hospitals are carefully screening anyone with symptoms such as fever, vomiting or diarrhea who has recently traveled from affected areas. Thus far, all of the tests conducted in Kenya have been negative for Ebola.
Fortunately, preparedness efforts are strong. Kenya has laboratory capacity to rapidly test for this strain of Ebola, with results often available within 24 hours. To date, suspected cases identified in Kenya have tested negative, which demonstrates that surveillance systems are working as intended.
Q: You've responded to Ebola outbreaks before. How does that experience shape your perspective today?
Lindblade: I had the privilege of serving with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the 2014-15 West African Ebola epidemic in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. One of the biggest lessons from that response was that outbreaks are controlled through strong public health fundamentals: rapid diagnosis, isolation and appropriate care of patients, contact tracing, supported quarantines, infection prevention in healthcare facilities, safe and respectful burials, and community trust.
The science matters, but so do relationships. Communities need clear, honest communication and confidence that health workers are there to help. When people trust the health system, they seek care earlier and cooperate with public health measures, which can dramatically slow transmission.
Q: Should people in the United States be worried?
Lindblade: At this point, the risk to the general public in the United States remains very low. Ebola is not spread through the air like influenza or measles. It spreads through direct contact with the body fluids or blood of someone who is sick with Ebola or through contaminated materials.
The public health efforts underway in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda reduce the chances that an individual infected with Ebola will leave those countries and travel to the U.S. Additionally, travel screening, clinical awareness and infection prevention protocols make it much more likely that an imported case would be identified and contained quickly.
Q: What makes Ebola so challenging to contain?
Lindblade: The virus itself is only part of the challenge. Outbreaks often occur in places where healthcare systems are already under strain. Limited resources, delayed access to healthcare, and fear or misinformation can all make response efforts more difficult.
Healthcare workers also face significant risks if appropriate protective equipment and infection prevention procedures are not consistently available. That is why preparedness before an outbreak occurs is so important.
Q: How are AMPATH partners preparing?
Lindblade: AMPATH and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital have activated emergency preparedness plans that include enhanced screening, infection prevention, isolation procedures and contact tracing. Our faculty members are working closely with Kenyan public health authorities to ensure suspected cases can be evaluated quickly and tested rapidly.
Preparedness is about building systems before a crisis arrives. Every suspected case that is safely evaluated strengthens the overall response.
Q: What is the biggest lesson policymakers should take away?
Lindblade: The best defense against Ebola—and against future pandemics—is not a disease-specific program. It is a resilient health system.
When countries invest in trained healthcare workers, reliable laboratories, surveillance systems and strong local public health infrastructure, they are better prepared for whatever comes next, whether that is Ebola, influenza or an entirely new emerging disease.
Healthcare systems that support the population before disaster strikes earn the trust required to survive a global epidemic. Through the AMPATH partnership, IU has been working with colleagues in Kenya for more than 35 years to build a sustainable public health infrastructure that leads with care while supporting research and training.
Those investments protect local communities, but they also improve global health security. Infectious diseases do not respect borders, so strengthening health systems anywhere ultimately helps protect people everywhere.
