Memories of the Corona pandemic are being revived. Contrary to the Zaire strain, for not less deadly variants such as the current Bundibugyo strain specific medications or vaccines are not yet available, which is why supportive intensive care remains crucial.

Historically, the Hôpital Bichat in Paris is one of the most important reference centers in France for severe cases like Ebola – it is one of the authorized Parisian reference facilities for treating patients with the highly contagious fever disease, with isolation rooms and strict hygiene measures. Image: hopital-bichat.aphp.fr

Just a few days ago, the current Ebola outbreak in Central Africa surpassed the mark of 1,000 confirmed infections. Now the virus has reached Europe: on Wednesday, France confirmed a case of Ebola in a doctor who had returned from a humanitarian mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The patient is in isolation and is being treated in a specialized clinic.

The news is likely to evoke unpleasant memories of the coronavirus pandemic for many Europeans. Yet is the situation really comparable?

The figures from Africa are concerning. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,000 infections and several hundred deaths have now been recorded. The outbreak is already considered one of the most severe in recent decades. Particularly problematic is the fact that the currently circulating Bundibugyo variant of the Ebola virus is more difficult to control than other known strains.

Although the treatment of Ebola has improved significantly in recent years, it still depends heavily on the specific virus variant. The focus today is on intensive supportive care: patients receive early intravenous fluids, electrolyte balancing, oxygen, and close monitoring in an isolation or intensive care unit. For certain Ebola strains, especially the Zaire ebolavirus, approved antibody therapies are also available and can significantly improve survival chances. In addition, an effective vaccine exists, primarily used in outbreak regions to contain the spread. For other variants such as the Bundibugyo strain, however, the data is much more limited, and specific medications or vaccines are not yet available. In these cases, supportive intensive care remains crucial.

Nevertheless, experts warn against exaggerated reactions. Ebola is a zoonosis—that is, a disease that occasionally jumps from animals to humans. The greatest risk of infection once again lies in the slaughtering and processing of wild animals—echoes of coronavirus. Upon that, Ebola spreads only through close human contact. Unlike COVID-19, Ebola is not transmitted through the air. Infection generally requires direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. As a result, the routes of transmission are far more limited.

For precisely this reason, European health authorities regard the current case as serious yet not as an immediate threat to the general population. France promptly initiated the prescribed safety measures. The patient was isolated, and contact persons are being monitored, with some required to undergo a 21-day quarantine. Nevertheless, the case illustrates how interconnected the world has become. Diseases that break out thousands of kilometers away can reach European soil within hours. Complete isolation is hardly possible in a globalized world.

The key question, therefore, is not whether Ebola can reach Europe—that has now happened. Rather, the question is whether healthcare systems are prepared. According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), EU member states have established procedures for dealing with imported Ebola cases. The risk of a larger outbreak is currently assessed as “very low.”

A look at modern medicine shows by the way that the development of therapies no longer takes place solely in laboratories, yet is increasingly supported by digital tools. Artificial intelligence is playing an ever more important role in modern drug development, even if its contribution largely went unnoticed during the COVID-19 pandemic. AI systems have been used to analyze large volumes of biological and chemical data, identify potential drug candidates, and accelerate development processes. Nevertheless, no COVID-19 medication was developed “by AI” alone: the approved vaccines and therapeutics are based on classical virological research, decades of mRNA and vector technology, and extensive clinical trials. In this context, AI functioned more as a background accelerator than a visible main actor. The limited public awareness of this contribution is due to the fact that regulatory studies and medical communication focus on demonstrable clinical outcomes rather than on individual tools used in development. In principle, effective COVID-19 treatments could have been developed without AI—yet likely with significantly longer development times and greater research effort.

By Okay Altinisik | 25-6-2026, 8:42:18