Monrovia, May 20 -- As a fresh Ebola outbreak unfolds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC), one of Liberia's leading public health voices, Dugbeh Christopher Nyan, is urging urgent action grounded in the painful lessons of the country's own epidemic battle.

By Willie N. Tokpah, willien.tokpah@frontpageafricaonline.com

Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with Al Jazeera, Dr. Nyan, former Director General of the National Public Health Institute of Liberia, framed the current situation not as a distant crisis, but as a warning signal Liberia and the region cannot afford to ignore.

"We've been here before," he said. "And what we learned then must guide what we do now."

Lessons from Liberia's Darkest Hours

Dr. Nyan played a role ...