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Episode details

World Service,16 May 2018,26 mins

Action on Ebola Outbreak in the DRC

Health Check

Available for over a year

More this week on the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, there have now been at least 41 suspected cases, including three health workers. Of those at least 20 people have died, including one of the health workers. But the international community has acted quickly, after the Director General of the WHO confirmed people in certain areas will be given an experimental vaccine later this week. Health Check talks to Helen Branswell, a senior writer for the US Health website STAT about whether such action will be enough to prevent the spread of a disease which killed more than 11,000 people in the outbreak of 2014. Also we hear about efforts in Italy to help diagnose dementia earlier using computer algorithms to rapidly analyse thousands of brain scans for markers of the disease before symptoms become apparent. And a new exhibition at Wellcome Collection in London explores the history of dentistry, from 1000-year old Mayan dental bling to the latest digital dentist's chair which can scan your mouth and 3D print your teeth. (Image: Hygienists wearing protective suits disinfect the toilets of the Ebola treatment centre in Lokolia, on October 5, 2014 Credit: KATHY KATAYI/AFP/Getty Images)

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