Joel Breman: infectious diseases physician who investigated the first outbreak of Ebola

bmj;385/jun06_14/q1240/FAF1faJoel Breman, an American infectious diseases physician who worked on Ebola, Guinea worm, malaria, smallpox, and many other conditions, and mentored many in the global health community, has died from kidney cancer at the age of 87.The first 10 years of Breman’s career included assignments to west Africa to help with smallpox, being sent by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to control an outbreak of botulism in Michigan, and investigation of a frightening new infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire) that turned out to be Ebola. “Not bad for your first decade in public health,” said friend and colleague Rick Steketee at Breman’s memorial service.Breman, who grew up in California, received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in 1965, followed by a diploma from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine…
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