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NOVA: PLAGUE FIGHTERS (TV)

Summary

One in this series of science documentaries. This edition examines the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in Zaire, Africa, which occurred in 1995. This program includes comments from several doctors and medical students who went to Zaire to contain the virus, including Dr. William Close, Dr. C.J. Peters, Dr. Dona Mupapa, Dr. Peter Kilmarx, Dr. Ali Khan, Dr. Pierre Rollin, Gustav A. Martini, Dr. Robert Swanepoel, Dr. Paul Reiter, Dr. Russell Coleman, John Krebs, Isabelle Lumbwe, and Dr. Mungala Kipasa. Topics discussed include: whether the Ebola virus can be isolated; a definition of the Ebola virus and the way it spreads; the atmosphere in the Zaire villages as an international team of doctors arrives; the risks the doctors are taking; the initial step of locating the deadly virus; the history of Ebola in Zaire; the way the epidemic was controlled when it last struck the area; the virus' rapid spread through the local hospital in the village of Kikwit; the major difference between the Ebola virus and other deadly viruses; the first discovery of the virus outside of Africa; the spread of the virus even after the arrival of doctors; modifications in the villagers' cultural habits, especially funeral ceremonies, to control the virus; the doctors and medical students' attempts to educate the public about Ebola; precautions that medical teams take upon leaving the Ebola ward; doctors' speculations on the origins of the virus; the number of deaths in a two-week span; the way doctors can trace the virus to its initial carrier; the investigation into a local rainforest in order to locate the origin of the virus; some villagers' refusal to believe that families and friends are infected, and the reasons some people survive the virus; the medical team's sense of vulnerability after the infection of a nurse who had taken every precaution; the experimental treatment used to try and save the nurse's life; their ability to verify that the epidemic was under control; and the odds of another outbreak occurring in the area. Includes a promo for the next episode of "Nova."

Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 1998.

Details

  • NETWORK: PBS
  • DATE: February 6, 1996 Tuesday 8:00 PM
  • RUNNING TIME: 0:56:32
  • COLOR/B&W: Color
  • CATALOG ID: T:51001
  • GENRE: Science/Nature
  • SUBJECT HEADING: Africa - Social conditions; Diseases, pathology; Ebola virus; Medicine; Zaire - Social conditions
  • SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1974-
  • COMMERCIALS:
    • TV - Promo - "Nova: War Machines of Tomorrow"

CREDITS

  • Paula S. Apsell … Executive Producer
  • Melanie Wallace … Senior Producer
  • Simcha Jacobovici … Producer, Writer
  • Elliott Halpern … Producer, Writer
  • Ric Esther Bienstock … Producer, Director
  • Beth Hoppe … Series Producer
  • Marike Emery … Associate Producer
  • Aaron Davis … Music by
  • John Lang … Music by
  • Mason Daring … Theme Music by
  • Martin Brody … Theme Music by
  • Stacy Keach … Narrator
  • William Close
  • Russell Coleman
  • Ali Khan
  • Peter Kilmarx
  • Mungala Kipasa
  • John Krebs
  • Isabelle Lumbwe
  • Gustav A. Martini
  • Dona Mupapa
  • C.J. Peters
  • Paul Reiter
  • Pierre Rollin
  • Robert Swanepoel