Karin Huster encounters death up close, and repeatedly.

She has seen babies perish in their mothers’ arms. She has watched people grieve as their loved ones were buried in white body bags drenched in bleach. She has survived a clinic where she worked being attacked, burned and shot at.

“It’s the best job in the world,” she says. “And I don’t mean this lightly.”

Before reaching her current position of Field Coordinator with Doctors Without Borders, Karin Huster was a Registered Nurse and an MPH student at the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health. Working alongside professors , Huster gathered a multitude of skills that she’s used to advance her career. In addition to her wide-ranging field work, Huster is a regular writer and contributor to radio shows and podcasts.

By Kieran Guilbert

West Africa is most at risk of fatal haemorrhagic fever epidemics, including Ebola, researchers said on Wednesday, calling for greater preparedness to save lives.

A study in The Lancet medical journal assessed the likelihood of four viruses - Ebola, Lassa, Marburg and Crimean-Congo - spreading on the continent, charting progress from a first human case through to a potential pandemic.

Though the West African Ebola outbreak that began in 2013 is now under control, 23 countries remain environmentally suitable for animal-to-human transmission of the Ebola virus. Only seven of these countries have experienced cases of Ebola, leaving the remaining 16 countries potentially unaware of regions of suitability, and therefore underprepared for future outbreaks.