epidemic of Ebola – the highly contagious haemorrhagic fever that can cause uncontrollable internal bleeding – was spreading like wildfire across West Africa. Drug stocks and health supplies including malaria tests, condoms and paracetamol for community health worker distribution at a health centre in Konobo (Credit: Peter Yeung)Community-based health schemes like those being used in Liberia are increasingly seen by global health experts as both an effective way of spotting and preventing epidemics and of delivering better healthcare to rural communities around the world. "Reporting for this article was funded by the European Journalism Centre, through the Global Health Security Call, a programme supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation