There was no medical team ready to deploy to the Ebola outbreak.

Judged as of 2015. The claim concerns the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014–16 and means that, when the outbreak began, the world (international bodies and governments) had no standing medical team ready to deploy quickly. True: reports and reviews (WHO Ebola Interim Assessment Panel, Harvard/LSHTM panel, UN reviews, contemporary reporting) show that no standing, pre-organised international medical response team was ready to deploy at scale when the outbreak began, and that teams had to be assembled, so deployment was slow. Mostly true: that holds broadly, but a small pre-existing capacity existed (e.g. NGOs such as MSF deployed early) that the statement overlooks, without changing the main point that no organised international team was on standby. Mixed: standing deployable capacity existed in part, but it was clearly inadequate or slow. Mostly false: organised, ready-to-deploy international medical teams did exist and deployed promptly, and the shortfall was mainly one of scale. False: evidence shows a dedicated international medical team was ready and deployed promptly at the start of the outbreak.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Independent panel of global experts calls for critical reforms to prevent future pandemics London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · 20 November 2015

   “how and why the global response to the greatest Ebola calamity in human history was late, feeble and uncoordinated.”

2. E2 Independent panel of global experts calls for critical reforms to prevent future pandemics London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · 20 November 2015

   “Create a unified WHO Centre with clear responsibility, adequate capacity, and strong lines of accountability for outbreak response”

3. E3 2DFID’s response to the crisis UK House of Commons International Development Committee (Ebola: Responses to a public health emergency)

   “a real mobilization effort did not begin until September [2014], resulting in the loss of a critical time window to prevent the epidemic’s spread.”

4. E4 2DFID’s response to the crisis UK House of Commons International Development Committee (Ebola: Responses to a public health emergency)

   “drew on its standing humanitarian capacity as well as surging in capability of over 200 surge staff, to respond to the Ebola outbreak”

The Harvard-LSHTM independent panel called the global response "late, feeble and uncoordinated" [E1]. It also recommended creating a unified WHO centre with adequate capacity for outbreak response, which suggests no such dedicated standing capacity existed during the outbreak [E2]. A UK parliamentary committee report states that real mobilisation did not begin until September 2014, resulting in the loss of a critical time window [E3]. However, DFID told the committee it drew on its "standing humanitarian capacity" alongside surge staff [E4]. So some pre-existing capacity did exist, but it did not change the main point that no organised international medical team was ready to deploy at scale.