Among the following, which were frequently mentioned in the news for the outbreak of Ebola virus recently?

The answer is B) Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. These three West African countries bore the brunt of the 2014-16 Ebola Virus Disease epidemic, the largest outbreak since the virus was first identified in 1976 in what is now the DRC and Sudan. The WHO declared it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern under the IHR (2005) in August 2014, and the outbreak was declared over in West Africa in 2016 (flare-ups have occurred in DRC since).

• A) Syria and Jordan: No Ebola outbreak. Their news in that period was about the civil war and refugees.
• C) Philippines and Papua New Guinea: Not affected by Ebola in this outbreak. Dengue and other tropical diseases are the usual concerns there.
• D) Jamaica, Haiti and Surinam: Not Ebola-affected. Haiti's major health crisis after the 2010 earthquake was cholera.

The core concept is zoonotic spillover and outbreak response: the virus spread through contact with infected bodies and bushmeat, and weak health systems turned it into a regional crisis. For Mains (GS-2 and GS-3), it links to health governance, the role of WHO, and the need for disease surveillance and One Health.

Trap: Many aspirants pick the Democratic Republic of Congo or any African country with a mention in the news. Remember that the 2014 question is about the West African epidemic.