London symposium to discuss ebola

A team of global scientists and health experts is to gather in London on Feb. 6 for a major symposium on the ebola crisis.

The Royal Society of Medicine and the Faculty of Public Health are co-hosting the day-long event to discuss crucial lessons to be learnt from the West Africa ebola outbreak, the largest in known history.

A distinguished panel of speakers, including Professor Peter Piot who co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976, will present the history of the disease, discuss the lessons learnt from the 2014 outbreak and map out the strategies in place for preventing future outbreaks.

The conference, "Ebola, the 21st century plague", will be chaired by Professor John Ashton, President of Britain's Faculty of Public Health and will open with a video communique from Chinese health expert, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

Topics will include the emergence of a new public health threat and the biology and origins of Ebola. The event will conclude with a discussion about a plan of action for the future.

A spokesman for the Royal Society of Medicine said: "The Ebola virus is shocking the world and has claimed thousands of lives during the current epidemic in West Africa, and has demanded a global response to contain and prevent the disease." Endit