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National

Data: DRC Ministry of Health; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Officials are trying — and failing — to squelch a simmering Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the death toll passed 1,000 on Friday. The outbreak has been taking place for nearly a year. 

Why it matters: The longer this outbreak goes on, the greater the likelihood of it spreading to highly populated areas within the DRC, moving beyond the country to neighboring areas or becoming endemic to the sprawling country. It is already the second-largest outbreak of the highly lethal and contagious virus on record, and officials from the World Health Organization issued new warnings Monday that they do not have the money or the security resources to fight it.

The context: This Ebola outbreak is taking place in a country that is home to an insurgency, with dozens of armed groups operating in areas where Ebola cases have been occurring. Ebola treatment centers have been attacked and destroyed, and 85 health workers have been injured or killed in 119 violent attacks since January,  according to new figures from the WHO. 

What's new: In a press conference early Friday, Michael Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said the availability of effective Ebola vaccines was not enough to stop the outbreak because of the tenuous security situation. 

“We are anticipating a scenario of continued intense transmission," Ryan said.

A key task for health workers responding to the outbreak is known as contact tracing, which involves tracking down everyone an infected person came into contact with, and either vaccinating them, tracking their health, or both. 

Due to community resistance and security fears, this basic epidemiological task is not being fully performed, causing many cases to be missed and new chains of transmission to be established. 

A new study published this week shows the one Ebola vaccine available so far in the DRC, known asrVSV-ZEBOV and manufactured by Merck, is 97% effective. However, its effectiveness drops dramatically if it's not given at least 10 days before infection, the study found, making reliable contact tracing even more critical.

But, but, but: The WHO, despite facing long odds in getting this outbreak under control, has so far refused to declare what's known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, or PHEIC, which is the public health equivalent of a red alert. 

WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said this week that, "The world has never seen anything like this," and that his organization only has about 50% of the resources they need. 

"To be honest, with conflict, high morbidity, high population density, political problems and security problems, it’s a miracle we don’t have cases spreading more," Ghebreyesus told Nature News. 

The WHO has cited the lack of Ebola's spread to other countries as a reason not to declare an emergency, despite the continued, uncontrolled spread within the DRC.

"The events of the last month, including the unprecedented rise in cases, clearly indicate that the situation is getting worse and new efforts are needed," Jennifer Nuzzo, a public health expert at Johns Hopkins University, tells Axios. 

She said Ghebreyesus' statements about the severity of the outbreak and obstacles facing responders, "...meets the legal definition by which a PHEIC should be declared."

Ebola vaccine's effectiveness is imperiled by DRC's unrest

Congo health workers demand security so they can tackle Ebola

WHO stops short of declaring health emergency over DRC Ebola outbreak

Ebola fatalities pass 1,000 in DRC outbreak amid new warnings

There's no sign of stopping this outbreak yet.

Science

Ebola virus disease

World

The U.S. health system faces critical questions about cost, access and equity. Technological advances and new discoveries about diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s are transforming patient care and reshaping public health.

Health

Pro Rata

Axios Pro Rata

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has decided against inviting predecessor Travis Kalanick to join him on the New York Stock Exchange balcony during next Friday's bell-ringing ceremony, according to multiple sources. 

Details: Instead, Kalanick has been offered to be on the NYSE floor, alongside other company directors. No word yet on if he plans to attend.

Why it matters: Kalanick co-founded Uber and led the majority of its growth before being forced out in mid-2017. He had asked during a recent board meeting to participate in the bell-ringing, alongside Khosrowshahi and a group of longtime Uber executives and drivers, but Khosrowshahi was noncommittal at the time. 

More: Uber sets IPO terms, could be valued at $84 billion

Uber floors Travis Kalanick on IPO day

Ex-CEO won't be on the balcony of the New York Stock Exchange when Uber rings in the bell, post-IPO.

Business

Uber

Technology

Transportation

Big Tech

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

A panel of 3 federal judges deemed Ohio's congressional map unconstitutional in an unanimous decision on Friday, ordering a revised map be drawn before the 2020 elections, AP reports.

Details: The federal court ruling indicated that district boundaries were gerrymandered after the 2010 Census for Republican gain. While Ohio is currently barred from holding another election in which the current map would be used under the decision, it's likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court. 

Go deeper ... Democrats' other 2020 battle: gerrymandering

Judges rule Ohio's congressional map is unconstitutionally gerrymandered

The court ordered a revised map be drawn before the 2020 elections.

Ohio's State Capitol. Photo: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images

Politics

Gerrymandering

Total precipitable water showing a surge of moisture from Cyclone Fani headed into northeast India

Total precipitable water showing a surge of moisture from Cyclone Fani headed into northeast India. Image: University of Wisconsin/CIMSS

Cyclone Fani barreled ashore in India as a Category 4 storm early Friday, bringing extreme winds and storm surge flooding to the city of Puri and points to the north and east, but a threat looms for a more far-flung location: the Himalayas. 

The big picture: This is climbing season on Mt. Everest and other peaks nearby, as dozens of elite — and some not-so-elite — climbers attempt to summit the tallest mountains in the world. Although Fani is tracking toward the northeast, along India's coast toward Kolkata and Bangladesh, the storm is also pushing a surge of moisture-laden air from near the equator toward the Himalayas. This could result in heavy snows that may endanger climbers. 

The context: Tropical cyclones have led to disaster in the Himalayas before. In 2014, Tropical Cyclone Hudhud, which also made landfall in eastern India but took a different, more inland track, helped spawn a blizzard in northern India and Nepal. 

The storm caught climbers on the Annapurna circuit, a popular hiking route separate from the Everest trek, off guard, and killed more than two dozen in the country's worst climbing disaster.

How it works: By pointing a firehose of moisture at the world's tallest peaks, cyclones like Fani can help spawn seemingly incongruous weather disasters, in the form of blizzards that dump feet of snow in a short period of time. 

This happens because the flow of moisture from the south collides with the east-to-west facing mountain range, forcing the air to rise, cool and condense into clouds and precipitation. 

This process is known as orographic lift, and it's amplified to a great extent by the mountain range's extraordinary height — with multiple peaks exceeding 20,000 feet above sea level. 

The snow from Hudhud measured upwards of six feet. 

According to the New York Times, Nepal has banned helicopters from flying in high mountain areas through the weekend and issued a warning to mountaineers on the mountain regarding the deteriorating weather.

But, but, but: Far more people are in harm's way closer to the storm center, of course, with the sprawling, low-lying city of Kolkata lying just to the east of the weakening storm's path. 

The main dangers there will be gusty winds, heavy rains and a storm surge that could compound the city's drainage problems. Storm surge flooding could also occur in neighboring Bangladesh, one of the countries most at risk from climate change-related sea level rise with millions residing near sea level.

Northeastern India has seen some of the deadliest cyclones in the world. The worst-ever in the state of Odisha was an unnamed cyclone that struck in 1999, killing an estimated 10,000 people. 

So far, there have only been reports of a handful of deaths from Fani, which indicates that the Indian government's extensive preparations for the intense storm likely saved lives. 

Videos: Cyclone Fani makes landfall in India as a Category 4 storm

The deadliest storms from the Bay of Bengal

How Cyclone Fani could threaten climbers on Mt. Everest

extreme weather

Extreme weather

News and analysis of the scientific advances fueling AI and quantum computing, revolutionizing biology and medicine, and tackling climate change. Science is changing the world and colliding with the global politics that shape it.

Breaking climate science and policy coverage as extreme weather events reshape communities. Keep tabs on the race to a low carbon economy, which may be bumpy as governments, climate tech startups and major oil and gas companies race to find their niche amid the changing energy landscape.

Energy & Climate

Whats Next

Axios What's Next

States are scrambling to figure out how to govern vehicles in an age of automated driving, when cars and drivers will have different levels of control over driving.

Why it matters: Autonomous vehicles will create new traffic risks, especially during the long transition period when there will be both AVs and driver-operated vehicles on the road.

The federal government has signaled that states should continue to be responsible for setting rules of the road, even when machines are doing the driving.

That comes with a host of thorny issues for states — from how to license automated drivers to how to rewrite outdated traffic laws.

"Basically it's been left to the free market — the states and the AV developers — to figure all this out."

Jim Hedlund, consultant to the Governors Highway Safety Association

What's happening: Organizations like the Governors Highway Safety Association and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators are working with AV developers and others to help states tackle these issues.

Next week (May 8), GHSA and State Farm will convene a panel of experts to develop recommendations for how states can adapt their traffic safety programs for AVs.

In 2018, AAMVA published guidelines for states on vehicle registration; driver training, testing and licensing; traffic law enforcement, and emergency response.

A committee of the Uniform Law Commission is drafting an AV law that would address many of the same issues.

The Harvard Kennedy School is bringing regional experts together for a series of AV policy scrums, as Colleen Quinn writes below for Axios Expert Voices.

The big picture: About 20 states and the District of Columbia are preparing for fully automated vehicles by enacting legislation, creating task forces or conducting research, says GHSA.

But even those efforts don't begin to address the multitude of traffic safety issues that will occur when AVs begin to share the roads with human-driven vehicles, Hedlund says.

And most states are doing nothing, a 2018 GHSA study found.

AVs are programmed to obey speed limits, but prevailing traffic often moves faster.

AVs need to adapt to local driving customs like the "Pittsburgh left" (letting the first left-turning vehicle stopped at a traffic light turn ahead of oncoming traffic when the light turns green).

Level 4 AVs will stop operating if their narrowly defined operating rules no longer apply (think sudden snow squall). States need to decide whether only passengers with a valid driver's license can ride.

Can a Level 4 AV legally serve as a designated driver to carry passengers home from the bar? Would its occupants be subject to impaired driving laws?

States must also decide if distracted driving laws would apply to passengers in a Level 3 or 4 AV.

The bottom line: "States need to to step up to the plate and get involved, because AVs will happen and they will come to your state, if only for interstate truck platooning. So you'd better get ready for them," says Hedlund.

Go deeper: States are sewing a patchwork of AV regulations

States need new traffic laws for self-driving cars

They'll create issues, especially with driver-operated vehicles still on the road.

In this illustration, a road curves around a traffic cone.

Autonomous vehicles

Macro

Axios Macro

Data: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Chart: Axios Visuals

The U.S. economy added 263,000 jobs in April, blowing past the 180,000 economists were expecting, the Labor Department said on Friday, while the unemployment rate dropped from 3.8% to 3,6% — the lowest since December 1969.

The big picture: Average hourly wage growth rose 3.2% on an annual basis, which is somewhat slower than before. That's not great for workers, but it could be a sign that there's still slack in the labor market and room for more job growth.

University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers:

The surprising overall robustness ... follows months of broad labor market strength. While the expansion is poised to become the nation’s longest on record at midyear, economists expect a deceleration this year even after a strong first quarter.

Axios

Friday's top stories

Ebola fatalities pass 1,000 in DRC outbreak amid new warnings

Uber floors Travis Kalanick on IPO day

Judges rule Ohio's congressional map is unconstitutionally gerrymandered

How Cyclone Fani could threaten climbers on Mt. Everest

States need new traffic laws for self-driving cars

U.S. adds 263,000 jobs in April as unemployment hits near 50-year low

Jay Inslee unveils his energy plan

Tax cuts could be a curse for U.S. companies

Not everyone likes their employer health coverage

Amazon's neighborhood watch app raises discrimination, privacy fears

Liberal activists drive Democratic Party

For education today, betting your income tomorrow

Kushner says peace plan will address Palestinian "political aspirations"