Ebola Outbreak Paper

BRIEFING NOTE Course: HH/NURS 4546 Section M Health and Healing: Global Context of Nursing York University Submitted by: Affiong Adeyemo Submitted to: Prof Beryl Pilkington Date: April 23, 2015 Briefing Note In late 2013, Ebola virus disease (EVD), a deadly and lethal disease, remerged in West Africa spreading to various countries in the region. In humans, the disease is spread through contact with infected bodily fluids leading to haemorrhagic fever (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Originating in 1976 in equatorial Africa, past outbreaks with a few hundred cases had been contained within rural, forested areas in Uganda and Congo (Piot, 2012). In 2014, a total of 20, 206 cases and 7,905 deaths were reported to have occurred in up to eight countries worldwide. Of all cases and deaths resulting from the disease, 99.8% occurred in three neighbouring West African countries - Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea (WHO, 2014). With a case fatality rate from about 50% to 90%, and the absence of preventative or curative therapies, the Ebola epidemic has led to overall global alarm and further elucidated existing global health disparities that perpetuated the epidemic with these West African countries.

Ebola is the virus Ebolavirus (EBOV), a viral genus, and the disease Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), a viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF). The virus is named after the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), which is near the site of the first recognized outbreak in 1976 at a mission hospital run by Flemish nuns. It has remained largely obscure until 1989 when several widely publicized outbreaks occurred among

First discovered in the 1970’s, the ebola virus was contained to West Africa (“About Ebola Virus Disease”). Villagers’ diets consisted primarily of the resources readily available. Among these resources were fruit, vegetables, and animals, namely monkeys. Monkeys carried the ebola virus, and when people ate them, without proper cleaning and cooking techniques, they became infected. Ebola, formally known as Zaire Ebola Virus, is transmitted through bodily fluids like saliva, blood, semen, breast milk, mucus, sweat, tears, feces and urine. ("Ebola in West Africa."). Since it was introduced to a third world country, where hygiene is not regarded as important as survival. Without education, protection and segregated sewage, the virus began to spread. In days people were dying after spreading the virus to those closest to them (Waterman). The bodies, though dead, were still harboring the virus and

Ebola is a virus that is transmitted to other individuals through direct contact with blood and body fluids of those infected (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). In the most recent outbreak in 2014, the video Ebola Outbreak (2014) illustrated that the virus quickly became a worldwide epidemic. As the virus became so widespread throughout Africa, Ebola-infected so many people in such a short time frame. While the organization, Doctors without Borders was intimately involved early on, they quickly learned that the manpower they had to offer was not nearly enough. The group identified that they had no way of performing contact tracing, which is a way of following patients that were contaminated and quickly led to additional cases of infection in astronomical numbers. According to the follow-up video, Outbreak (2014) the organization Doctors without Borders communicated to the World Health Organization (WHO) made a valiant

Although Ebola caught the world’s attention during the 1995 outbreak in Zaire, the first outbreak occurred in 1976. As the chart below displays, 71% of the people infected died as a result of Ebola during this first outbreak (Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 56 (2): 247-270, 1978). With the current outbreak, this ratio has dramatically decreased as a result of scientific research leading to early detection, but the current infected population is more than 20 times the amount of any previous outbreak and this number continues to grow as no vaccine exists to prevent the disease.

• Bundibugyo Ebolavirus (BEBOV) (infects humans, caused previous outbreaks) • Sudan Ebolavirus (SEBOV) (infects humans, caused previous outbreaks) • Zaire Ebolavirus (ZEBOV) (infects humans, caused the 2014 epidemic) • Reston Ebolavirus (REBOV) (has been seen in primates but not in More active disease surveillance needs to occur. This means that health care workers should be encouraged to document and report those they think have been exposed and their contacts. In more effectively reporting suspected cases, Ebola response teams are better able to promptly follow-up, transfer to isolation centers, and assess the scope of the epidemic (Matua, Van der Wal, & Locsin,

In the year 1976, Ebola climbed out of its unknown hiding place, and caused the death of 340 people. Fear gripped the victims' faces, and uncertainty tortured their minds. The people of Zaire waited outside clinics, churches and in their homes for a treatment of the horrible disease, but there was no cure. They were forced to watch people die, hoping that they would be saved from the violent death of the Ebola virus. From the year of 1976 to the present date of 1996, researchers have searched for origin and cure of the virus. Scientist have carried out numerous studies and investigations, but no one has been able to find the right explanations.

This Ebola outbreak taught us many factors of public health that we simply ignore daily, like washing hands. These viruses are easily transmitted from person to person, through their blood or body-fluids. Therefore it is very important to research about our public health around us, for everyone’s health and future.

Every illness begins at a single source that can rapidly spread to susceptible individuals who are completely unaware of what is occurring before them. This infection sparks a chain of events that can quickly transform a small illness into an epidemic. On March 25, 2014 the World Health Organization(WHO)

The Role of the World Health Organization in the 2014 Ebola Outbreak Abstract The 2014 Ebola outbreak was the first occurrence of Ebola in West Africa, killing thousands of people. The epidemic caused panic worldwide as the World Health Organization (WHO) struggled to contain what it claimed would be a brief

The Role OF International Monetary Fund (IMF) In The Ebola Outbreak In West Africa Introduction 2015 began, with the world receiving a sobering message. Not only have the number of Ebola cases gone above 20,000, but in some affected countries, mostly Sierra Leone, the virus is still spreading. The death toll is now up to 8,000 and the common answers to how this outbreak got so large so quickly, bad governance, poverty, cultural practices, endemic disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and all this leads to the questioning of the poor public health response and services. Most critics are moving to the structural causes of weak health systems and showing that international lending policies, including and especially those of the IMF, should take most of the blame.

The Ebola Virus is an extremely deadly virus found in Africa. There have been multiple outbreaks across Africa and one in the United States. The Ebola virus basically causes uncontrollable bleeding externally and internally. Then your organs become liquefied. This usually results in death(www.encyclopedia.com). The following report contains info on the characteristics and history of the Ebola Virus.

Ebola is a deadly, dangerous, unforgiving disease. It is transmitted so easily that people are afraid to even touch the dead body with protective gear. It can be spread through every bodily fluid, blood, and even semen from an infected male who has gotten over the virus. Symptoms of ebola are horrible, but they normally appear in 8-10 days, but they can show up as early as 2 days and as late as 28 days. The symptoms are the extreme versions of your common flu. Symptoms include Fever, Severe headache, Muscle pain, Weakness, Fatigue, Diarrhea, Vomiting, Abdominal pain, and Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising). There is no FDA-approved vaccine available for Ebola. Ebola isn't really a problem for America, but it is horrible in west Africa.

The Ebola Haemorrahagic Fever, or Ebola for short, was first recognized as a virus in 1967. The first breakout that caused the Ebola virus to be recognized was in Zaire with 318 people infected and 280 killed. There are five subtypes of the Ebola virus, but only four of them affect humans. There are the Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan, Ebola-Ivory Coast and the Ebola-Bundibugyo. The fifth one, the Ebola-Reston, only affects nonhuman primates. The Ebola-Zaire was recognized on August 26, 1976 with a 44 year old schoolteacher as the first reported case. The Ebola-Sudan virus was also recognized in 1976 and was thought to be that same as Ebola-Zaire and it is thought to have broken out in a cotton factory in the Sudan. The Ebola-Ivory Coast was

Hume, Tim. "The Ebola outbreak". Cnn. Oct. 15th, 2015. Web. oct 15th It is crazy! the disease comes out of nowhere and it doesn't stop their, it spreads like a wildfire! The ebola outbreak can not be solved, because their isn't a vaccine, even if they created one the virus is not gone once you have had the virus, and it can spread like a wildfire even after your symptoms are gone.