Ebola: What went wrong?

Many mistakes allowed outbreak to mushroom

Dr. Peter Piot, the co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his office at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London Friday. Piot questioned why it took the World Health Organization five months and 1,000 deaths before the agency declared Ebola an international health emergency in August. - photo by Associated Press

Britain WHO Ebola Mis Werm — Dr. Peter Piot, the co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at his office at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London Friday. Piot questioned why it took the World Health Organization five months and 1,000 deaths before the agency declared Ebola an international health emergency in August. - photo by Associated Press

Looking back, the mistakes are easy to see: Waiting too long, spending too little, relying on the wrong people, thinking small when they needed to think big. Many people, governments and agencies share the blame for failing to contain Ebola when it emerged in West Africa. Now they share the herculean task of trying to end an epidemic that has sickened more than 9,000, killed more than 4,500, seeded cases in Europe and the United States, and is not even close to being controlled.

Associated Press

Associated Press