--- title: Head of UN Ebola Response Says Outbreak May End This Summer description: The head of the UN Ebola response predicts the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will end by summer. canonical: https://time.com/3754011/ebola-outbreak-end-summer/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-23T13:46:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:04:56.128Z article:section: Health og:title: Ebola Outbreak May End This Summer, Official Says og:description: The head of the UN Ebola response predicts the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will end by summer. og:url: https://time.com/3754011/ebola-outbreak-end-summer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ebola Outbreak May End This Summer, Official Says twitter:description: The head of the UN Ebola response predicts the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will end by summer. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Ebola Outbreak May End This Summer, Official Says by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 23, 2015 1:46 PM UTC by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Mar 23, 2015 1:46 PM UTC The Ebola outbreak that has claimed thousands of lives in West Africa could end by the summer, a top health official said. “We have been running away from giving any specific date, but I am pretty sure myself that it will be gone by the summer,” Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the head of the[ United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response](https://ebolaresponse.un.org/head-mission), told the BBC. While there are still confirmed cases of Ebola in the most affected countries—Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone—the outbreak has been substantially declining over the last few months. The requirement for declaring a country “Ebola-free” is to reach 42 days with no new cases, and Guinea recently experienced an [uptick in infections](http://time.com/3750704/guinea-ebola-surge/). The widespread emergence of the outbreak is about to reach one year. To date, over 24,000 people have been infected with Ebola, and over 10,000 have died from the disease. \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32009508)\] _Read next:_ [_Slow International Response to Ebola Epidemic Cost Thousands of Lives: MSF_](http://time.com/3753684/ebola-medecins-sans-frontiers-west-africa-world-health-organization-slow-response-cost-lives/?iid=time%5Freadnext) ### See The Tobacco Leaves That Could Cure Ebola  Tobacco plants are grown for six weeks in the Medicago greenhouse in Quebec City so their leaves are large enough to serve as a factory for making antibodies. The plants are not modified or genetically altered in any way during this time. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics in Germany prepare the DNA coding for antibodies that can neutralize Ebola. These genes are inserted into a soil bacterium that easily infects the tobacco plant cells. Once in the cells, the gene is treated like any other plant gene and the plant starts churning out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  To infect the leaves with the antibody-containing bacteria, the plants are submerged in a water solution of the loaded bacteria. Plant cells have plenty of empty spaces filled with air, so a vacuum removes the air and the water, along with the bacteria and antibody genes, flow in. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  The leaf at the bottom has not been treated. The leaf on top is now an antibody-making factory. The plant's normal machinery starts making the antibody as if it is a plant protein. Mathieu Belanger—Reuters  Researchers at Icon Genetics grind the leaves down to filter out the antibodies. Sean Gallup—Getty Images  Ultraviolet light reveals the clusters of cells that are busy making antibodies. One kg of leaves produces about 5g of antibodies, which is about a third of the dose required to treat an Ebola patient. Sean Gallup—Getty Images [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3754011/ebola-outbreak-end-summer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3754011/ebola-outbreak-end-summer/"},"headline":"Ebola Outbreak May End This Summer, Official Says","datePublished":"2015-03-23T13:46:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:56.128Z","description":"Over 10,000 people have died from Ebola","url":"https://time.com/3754011/ebola-outbreak-end-summer/","keywords":["ebola","Sierra Leone","Summer","Guinea","Liberia","Ebola outbreak"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/ebola/","name":"ebola"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3754011/ebola-outbreak-end-summer/","name":"Ebola Outbreak May End This Summer, Official Says"}}]}] ```