Asia on Ebola alert: could virus slip through region’s defences?
While the risk of Ebola reaching Asia is low, experts urge governments to prioritise early detection over border controls
While experts say the risk of a major outbreak in Asia remains low, the latest flare-up has renewed scrutiny of whether hospitals, contact tracers and border surveillance systems remain ready after years of post-Covid fatigue and strained global health funding.
Khoo Yoong Khean, deputy director of the Centre for Outbreak Preparedness and assistant professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, said there was “a low risk that Ebola will reach Asia”.
But he said the most likely route of introduction would be through international air travel or medical evacuation, making early detection more important than sweeping border restrictions.
Ebola is a severe and often fatal disease whose symptoms can take two to 21 days to appear, meaning infected travellers may move across borders before they become visibly ill.
The current outbreak in Africa involves the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, a rarer form for which no licensed vaccine or specific treatment exists, making early detection, isolation and supportive care especially important.