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Understanding Ebola Through an Iowan Lens

Scanning electron microscopic image of Ebola virions

With the Ebola outbreak continuing to take lives in Western Africa, Iowans working in the region are feeling the effects. 

"I have several friends who are in the Peace Corps. Just yesterday they got the news that they’ll be leaving and going back to the US for at least one month. And the fact that she’s being evacuated has really made me think about how serious this is getting," says Libby Casavant, an Iowa native currently working in Liberia as a hydrologist.

Host Ben Kieffer speaks with two Iowans who explain what’s happening in the three Western African countries where the worst outbreak of the Ebola has occurred since the virus was discovered.

 

rtr1407801_perlman.mp3
Host Ben Kieffer speaks with Dr. Stanley Perlman, professor of microbiology and pediatrics at the University of Iowa, about the basics of why Ebola is so dangerous and how likely it is to spread to the United States.

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River