At the end of last year, an Ebola disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai province was officially declared over. You might be surprised to learn that it was the 16th outbreak of Ebola disease in the country since Ebola was first identified in 1976. In fact, it was the second Ebola outbreak in Africa in 2025 to be identified and contained within the space of a few months, attracting few international headlines in the process. That marks a stark contrast to the West Africa Ebola disease outbreak of a decade ago, which killed more than 28,000, touched three continents, and sparked a global public health scare before it was finally stopped. Expertise in infectious disease outbreak response, including in therapeutics and medical countermeasures, has significantly improved over the years, thanks to lessons learned applied from previous outbreaks. In the DRC, for example, a national stockpile of vaccines was vital in quickly protecting communities and frontline workers just days after an outbreak was declared in early September. Much of this progress was made …