AS THE DEATH TOLL CONTINUES TO RISE, AND the fear of Ebola spreads like the deadly virus itself, broader international involvement is imperative to prevent it from wreaking further havoc.

Since February, the latest Ebola outbreak has claimed nearly 900 lives in West Africa, surpassing the aggregate total of the past 37 years. That no vaccine is available, infections remain incurable, and the mortality rate can reach 90 percent have brewed a contagious sense of fear that reaches far beyond the epidemic-hit areas. Ignorance and fear are in turn sabotaging local epidemic control efforts.

To cut off the channels of infection and lower the mortality rate, timely medical intervention is indispensable.