07/27/2026
Preparedness is the foundation of effective outbreak response.
As the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to take a devastating toll, our thoughts are with the affected families, communities and healthcare workers responding under extraordinarily difficult conditions. Conflict, displacement and limited access to health services are making an already serious outbreak even harder to contain.
GSSHealth’s outbreak work builds on direct field experience during the West Africa Ebola response (2014) and subsequent work strengthening surveillance, laboratories, biosecurity, biosafety, workforce capacity, logistics and quality systems. During COVID-19 we supported countries to pivot these networks to respond to evolving threats reinforcing the critical role of preparedness and coordination.
Our support has included:
PPE and laboratory testing forecasting and quantification
Site visits to balance supply demand with storage and operating capacity
Laboratory QC and QA programs
Biosecurity, biosafety and safe specimen-management systems
Training for laboratory staff, logisticians and response personnel
Field-based technical and contract support
PPE logistics, laboratory testing logistics and quality systems are not the whole response, but they are foundational, and major contributors to protecting healthcare workers, detecting cases and producing reliable results.
The current situation in DRC is also a reminder that no organization can respond alone. Governments, communities, laboratories, healthcare workers, humanitarian organizations, donors and technical partners must collaborate, share information and ensure that frontline teams have the protection, training, resources and sustained support they need.
Healthcare workers are the backbone of outbreak response. Supporting and protecting them must remain a global priority.
Image: Rapid feedback to procurement teams during the 2014 Ebola response (taken in Sierra Leone by GSSHealth staff Oct-Dec 2014) showing field-observed PPE problems: a loose outer glove slipping down the arm, a scratched reusable face shield, a hood leaving the neck exposed, and a coverall seam being examined for vulnerabilities.
