The 1995 Kikwit Ebola outbreak: lessons hospitals and physicians can apply to future viral epidemics

Objective: This article looks at lessons learned from the 1995 Kikwit Ebola outbreak and suggests how modern hospitals should apply these lessons to the next lethal viral epidemic that Occurs. Method: The 1995 Kikwit Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formally Zaire) is one of the most well studied epidemics to have Occurred to date. Many of the lessons learned front identifying, containing and treating that epidemic are applicable to Future Viral Outbreaks. natural disasters and bioterrorist attacks. This is due to Ebola's highly contagious nature and high mortality rate, Results: When an Outbreak Occurs, it often produces fear in the community and causes the basic practice of medicine to be altered. Changes seen at Kilkwit included limited physical examinations, hesitance to Live intravenous medications and Closure of supporting hospital facilities. The Kikwit Ebola Outbreak also provided beneficial psychological insight into flow patients. staff and the general community respond to a biological crisis and how this will affect physicians working in an epidemic. Conclusions: General lessons from the outbreak include the importance of having simple, well-defined triage procedures: staff who are sustained effort to flexible and able to adapt to situations with unknowns: and the need to protect staff physically and emotionally to ensure a provide care. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.