The Ebola Outbreak

It is vital to understand deadly viruses and their history in order to prevent future outbreaks. Ebola leaves very few clues after annihilating its victims, so it is incredibly important to analyze those clues. Ebola’s close relationship to monkeys contains key knowledge that could hold the secret to its success. Paying close attention to how Ebola is spreading and mutating could lead researchers to the answer for preventing the contraction of it. Discovering where and how the virus first emerged could lead to Ebola’s end.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the swine flu in the U.S., or the botulism outbreak in Ohio. What did they all have in common? They were all dealt with by epidemiologists. Now what is an epidemiologist? An epidemiologist, in briefest terms, is a person in the health profession who studies the causes and patterns of disease in humans, with the intent of reducing risks of “negative health outcomes” usually by way of research and implementation of health policy (“Epidemiologists” U.S. Bureau). Most epidemiologists are heavily involved in lab work. They analyze data and send it to health practitioners and the public. They often work for state governments where they address public health issues or abroad investigating diseases

Dr. Kent Brantly, one of two American aid workers who had contracted Ebola on a trip to Africa, was released from the hospital on August 21. He thanked God for surviving the ordeal and urged people to pray for an end to the deadly epidemic, stating, “Please do not stop praying for the people of West Africa.” The other American Ebola patient, Missionary Nancy Writebol, was released on August 19. The two are weak but no longer contagious and should expect a full recovery.

Differing interests and agendas impeded the containment of the Ebola virus. Most problems arose within organizations, between governments, and between outside organizations and governments. The local government and civil society organizations already had their own agendas and were known to be corrupt. The corrupt nature of the local-based organizations hindered relief during the Ebola epidemic. Furthermore, the citizens of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone were mistrusting of the government. Because the citizens were mistrusting of their own people, they became doubtful of the outside organizations providing relief and in turn, it became problematic for outside organizations to do their work. Even the cooperation between outside organizations

Imagine being isolated from your friends and family, suffering from an illness that feels as though something is burning through your body, while watching people around you dying of the same illness and wondering when it will be your turn to proverbially “kick the bucket”. For many survivors of the Ebola disease, this situation would be far too familiar. In March 2014, the Ebola virus outbreak began in West Africa, mainly in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. According to a recent figure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been a total of 28616 Ebola cases and 11310 deaths from Ebola in these three countries (2014). There were many unpalatable symptoms of the disease, such as “fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, widespread bleeding, diarrhea and other physical symptoms leading to high mortality” (Van Bortel). If one is lucky enough to survive this virus, however, there are just as many negative results of the virus as there were symptoms. Many West African survivors have to deal with their new negative image, negative lasting health effects, or a decrease in financial stability due to their inability to work or find work after they recover. Now that the West African Ebola epidemic is over, (Liberia) there remains the task of assimilating the survivors back into their societies. Moreover, the best solution to counteract the effects of the Ebola virus on survivors is to expand upon the Ebola-survivor-support organizations already in place.

Children around the world fear the dark because they do not understand it. Much like a child’s fear of the dark, the panic caused by the Ebola virus is largely due to misunderstanding and is often blown out of proportion. The Ebola virus is discussed in the media because it generates hysteria, even though it is nowhere near as threatening as it is often claimed to be. Do not make the assumption that the virus itself is not lethal, as indeed it is one of the deadlier pathogens in the world; however, a variety of factors contribute to making the Ebola virus a less than perfect killer; in order to know why, it is important to understand what exactly the Ebola virus is.

The recent outbreak of Ebola has promoted international involvement from many organizations and governments. Most of these efforts have been focused on short-term solutions to control the disease. However, while many organizations provided medical workers, aid, and supplies to combat Ebola, their actions were insufficient to stop the spread of disease. There remains a multitude of problems in Sub-Saharan Africa, including lack of locally trained medical professionals and poor coordination between global health organizations and governments. Ultimately, these issues must be addressed in order to stop the spread of Ebola as well as other infectious diseases.

Events that took place during this disaster were harmful to many people. Ebola included many details common to other viruses and caused damage to lives that effected the region, but the area has recovered.

Summary: This podcast explains the effect of the Ebola Virus on countries, and what the World Health Organization did to stop it. Sarah Boseley interviews Professor David Heymann, Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni, President Ernest Bai Koroma, Ban Ki-moon, and Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny. The Ebola Epidemic started in West Africa, mainly Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea. The World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible to slow down, or stop the disease from spreading. The Ebola Epidemic was still imminent in Africa while this podcast is going on, which on November 4, 2014. The interviewees say that WHO was slow to respond when the outbreak stuck the three countries. The reason that WHO was slow to respond, according to Dr. Mohga Kamal-Yanni is the funding

The first Ebola outbreak was in 1967. Recently there has been another one in the northwestern coast of Africa. Many people misunderstood what Ebola is. Ebola, known as Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever is a rare and deadly disease. That is caused by infection with one of the Ebola species.

The Ebola virus is a strong, serious, fatal illness, which has a large impact on the population today. In 2013, an outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) quickly grew into an epidemic of exceptional magnitude. The virus killed ten times more people than all previous EVD outbreaks taken together. The presence of the disease in towns and villages of countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, made the lives of people who live there unbearable. The poor healthcare infrastructures and penetrable borders between these countries turned the outbreak into a big challenge. The virus spread through the world pretty fast, which created a ripple of fear. The number of humans infected with the disease rose rapidly and drastically in recent years.

Responses to the Ebola outbreak show that the international community has yet to reach agreement on what constitutes an adequate policy response to transnational public health crises. Currently, governments are continuing to use isolation and quarantine to protect against contagious diseases. Also, they are implementing effective legally binding agreements such as the International Health Regulations which tend to improve 196 countries to respond to global public health threats. However, these measures are not sufficient against future health crises. The challenge is to change structures of power including neoliberalism, capitalism, and racism at all levels of politics and policy, which something that is largely absent from the conventional

The first outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) was first discovered with two cases on the year 1976 near the Ebola River, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo in the countries Sudan and the other in Yambuku. The five strains of Ebola are the E. Zaire, E. Bundibugyo, E. Sudan, E. Reston, and E. Tai-Forest. These five strains were named by the location that they were first discovered. For example E. Sudan was the strain found in the first two cases in the country Sudan. The genus for EVD is Ebolavirus and the family is Filoviridae (4). The EVD is also known as the Ebola hemorrhagic fever as it illustrates the symptoms caused by this virus. (3). It is rare for EVD to be airborne as it is transmitted from human-to-human contact. Ebola-

Ebola is a terrible disease that can kill entire families. Many people would have never thought that, it's been around since 1976. Many things attributed to this deadly disease. For many years the rural community or health center where able to contain Ebola where it occurred. In 2013 people infected with Ebola came into cities where there was a dense population of people and there was a major outbreak. These communities were oblivious about what was happening to their loved ones. They continued being around those that were sick and with their burial tradition. This included washing and touching the infected bodies.

According to Cullinane and Park, “Hundreds of people are dead as the worst Ebola virus outbreak in history sweeps through West Africa” (Cullinane & Park, 2014, para. 1). Spread of the potential health crisis known as Ebola can be decelerated by understanding it, learning how to treat it, and quarantining. The Ebola virus causes a high-risk hemorrhagic fever that affects multiple organ systems in the body and is often accompanied by bleeding (Cullinane & Park, 2014, What is Ebola? section, para. 1). Medecins Sans Frontiers (2014) says, “It is a highly infectious virus that can kill up to 90 percent of the people who catch it” (“Ebola Emergency”, n.d.). Clearly, Ebola is a catastrophic virus which has gathered a lot of attention. Slowing the