How Liberia's Decentralized Ebola Response Reshaped Outbreak Control

During the 2014–2016 West African Ebola epidemic, the CDC helped develop the RITE strategy in Liberia, which shifted outbreak response authority from national and international teams to county-level health officials. By pushing decision-making, protocols, and training to the frontline, RITE reduced the structural lag that consistently delayed containment in remote areas. The model proved consequential enough that sub-Saharan African outbreak frameworks have since drawn from it, including during later DRC Ebola responses.