Ebola, Ethics, and the Question of Culture

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in Western Africa has, in recent months, aroused growing alarm in Western countries. Attention has been drawn to the threat posed to the inhabitants of the region by what has undoubtedly become a major health emergency. As the death toll has mounted, increasingly strident calls for action have been voiced by nongovernmental organizations(NGOs) and international agencies active in the area, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and the World Health Organization and, more recently, even by the U.S. president.