Time Names Ebola Fighters Person of the Year

Posted on December 10, 2014

Time has named the Ebola fighters as the Person of the Year for 2014. There are many of them risking their lives in West Africa as the world's worst Ebola outbreak in history persists. Journalists have also put their lives at risk covering the outbreak.

Nearly 7,000 people have died so far in the Ebola outbreak. Many of those who have died have been health workers, which makes it more difficult to control the outbreak. Most of the deaths have been in the three countries most impacted by the outbreak. These include Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. There have also been cases in Nigeria, Mali, Senegal and the U.S. A BBC News story says the virus is still running ahead of efforts to control it.

Editor Nancy Gibbs explains in an article why the Ebola fighters were chosen for the Person of the Year cover. She says, "For tireless acts of courage and mercy, for buying the world time to boost its defenses, for risking, for persisting, for sacrificing and saving, the Ebola fighters are TIME’s 2014 Person of the Year."

It is certainly a better choice than Time has made in prior years, such as the silly "You" choice in 2006. Last year's Person of the Year was Pope Francis. Take a look: