Lessons from Ebola
Ifeolu David battled Ebola as a physician in Sierra Leone. He says we all can fight the spread of Coronavirus. The expectant mother arrived in the emergency room complaining of labor pains. It was a typical rainy day in July 2014, and Ifeolu David, a physician in Sierra Leone’s capital city of Freetown, expected a routine delivery. When he examined the patient, however, he noted her body temperature was higher than normal. Out of precaution, David ordered an Ebola test, even though she had no other symptoms. Two days later, she died. On the third day, the test results arrived. Ebola had arrived. That was the first of many Ebola patients David, now a doctoral student in the MU School of Health Professions, would encounter during the deadly outbreak, which the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a “public health emergency of international concern” in August 2014. David moved into an...