Outbreak history on August 8

Historical outbreak-response milestones recorded on this calendar date, drawn from WHO Disease Outbreak News, CDC archives, and primary epidemiological literature.

• 2014

  Ebola

  WHO declares West Africa Ebola epidemic a PHEIC

  The WHO Emergency Committee declared the West Africa Ebola virus disease outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern — the third-ever PHEIC under the IHR (2005) framework, after 2009 H1N1 influenza and the polio declaration three months earlier. The declaration was followed by accelerated vaccine trial coordination (the rVSV-ZEBOV trial in Guinea ultimately enrolled over 11,000 people) and the largest WHO emergency response operation up to that point.

  Glossary: PHEIC

Browse the full outbreak history calendar for milestones across all dates.