What if the West African Ebola Outbreak Occured in the 1990s?

Horrifying and apocalyptic. Public health wasn't nearly as developed in Africa back then, AND was having issues from the financial crisis in the late 80s/early 90s Africa. A lot less doctors getting paid, cuts to health, etc.--I have heard that if smallpox had been as prominent in that era as it was in the 1960s, it never would've been eradicated to this day.

You're looking at a general West African epidemic, at the very least, with easily 3 times the death rate and corresponding infection rates. Outbreaks in the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso guaranteed. And that's just the beginning.

I wonder if ebola eradication would be impossible and the world would just have to accept ebola as endemic, albeit with a much reduced death rate.
 
I think it would scare the west to the bones, the civil unrest/war would prevent to take the measures that worked in 2014. The infection would be rampant and spreading fast. It would burn out in time, but I think I would be long time before the region would recover from this. Think about the (fake/stupid) zombie scare of the last years. Here the fear has a real reason.
Nobody with an ounce of sense would go to that region of Africa for a long time.
 
But how long would the scare last? If ebola becomes endemic, then you have a disease which some catch, but not many. It's yet another disease you might catch in Africa, and another which has no cure. Yeah, it's synonymous with "horrible disease", but it isn't the end of the world for West Africa (just for thousands of its residents).

On the other hand, this will kickstart research into an ebola vaccine which will likely be available by the early 21st century.
 
But how long would the scare last? If ebola becomes endemic, then you have a disease which some catch, but not many. It's yet another disease you might catch in Africa, and another which has no cure. Yeah, it's synonymous with "horrible disease", but it isn't the end of the world for West Africa (just for thousands of its residents).

On the other hand, this will kickstart research into an ebola vaccine which will likely be available by the early 21st century.
Well that is a bright spot then, and thanks for the replies everyone
 
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