IMG's Chief Medical Officer Discusses the Challenges Presented by Recent Ebola Outbreaks

International Medical Group® (IMG®) has members around the world, including some traveling in or near high risk regions. IMG is taking steps to make sure that members who are in or near the Western Region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) understand the risks of the Ebola virus and that each of the potentially impacted organizations have robust contingency plans.

Between 2013 and 2016, West Africa saw the first substantial recurrence of the Ebola virus since the mid-1970s. In the last year, we’ve seen another epidemic of the virus and, this time, in a far less accessible area of the DRC. In addition to the remoteness of the geography, there are also several concerns from a security perspective, which makes it very difficult for aid agencies to be able to provide care for infected cases.

Speaking on the latest development, IMG’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Geoff Tothill, said, “the outbreak is far from over and at the time of speaking, some 2,000 people have been infected in the region. New cases are being discovered regionally on a daily basis.”

“Initially it was thought that all of these cases could be connected by some form of contact between infected people and others, but recently we’ve seen cases arise in the region which seemed to be unconnected from the primary event and we are still waiting to see whether genetically the virus is the same one that is causing this major outbreak at the moment” said Dr. Tothill.

“We encourage all of our members to avoid the region if at all possible and to get in touch with us if they have people who they think will be in that region so we can help them formulate their contingency plans and of course be ready to respond” says Dr. Tothill.

View the full interview with Dr. Tothill here. If you are an IMG insured and have any additional questions, please direct calls to +1 (317) 655-4500.

About International Medical Group (IMG)

International Medical Group® (IMG®), a Sirius Group company, is an award-winning global insurance benefits and assistance services company that has served millions of members worldwide since its founding in 1990. A leader in the global benefits and assistance services industry, IMG offers a full line of international medical insurance products, as well as travel insurance plans, medical management services, and 24/7 emergency medical and travel assistance. For more information, please visit www.imglobal.com.