The Ebola Outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone Ebola virus disease (EVD or Ebola) is a horrifying disease. It seemingly appears out of nowhere, kills people in a gruesome manner, and then disappears for reasons that are not entirely clear. Since Ebola was first described in 1976, it has captured the public imagination and raised questions about how the international community should respond to outbreaks. West Africa is currently experiencing the largest outbreak of Ebola ever recorded. As of 17 July 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had identified 1048 cases of the disease in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone since the epidemic began in February. Of those cases, 632 people have died from the disease—a 60 percent case fatality rate. While Ebola’s spread may be slowing in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recorded 67 new cases and 19 deaths between the 15th and the 17th of July alone. Adding to the tragedy, Sierra Leone’s top Ebola doctor, Sheik Umar Khan, contracted the disease himself. Containing the spread of the Ebola disease: Stopping the spread of Ebola necessarily requires cross-border cooperation. The disease does not respect national boundaries, and it has already demonstrated a proclivity for spreading to neighboring states. Furthermore, none of the affected states have health care systems or laboratory facilities that can mount an effective response on their own. The international community has an interest in mounting a coordinated response and preventing the epidemic from spreading any further. Is the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa likely to enhance cooperation among Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone? While it does present opportunities for cooperation, the response has been far from robust so far. There has been a fair amount of discussion about the need to cooperate and provide more resources, but the tangible outcome of these discussions remains lacking. Furthermore, some of the policies that the governments of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have introduced in response to the outbreak actually work against effectively containing the disease or building cooperative ties among the countries, like closing borders or threatening to arrest those infected with Ebola. This is not to say that the situation is hopeless, but it does highlight the need to improve cooperative structures among the affected countries. The Epidemiology of Ebola: Ebola is a difficult disease to contain under the best of circumstances. Its origins remain uncertain; it appears to spread to humans from animals, though the exact animal reservoir for the disease is not definitively known. Once it enters a human population, Ebola spreads from person-to-person through contact with blood or other bodily fluids. Within 2 to 21 days of infection, symptoms like fever, weakness, and muscle pain appear. From there, the infection progresses to vomiting, bleeding, diarrhea, and eventually multiple organ failure. There exist no treatments or cures for Ebola, so health care workers can only attempt to manage symptoms as they appear. Upwards of 90 percent of those infected die from the disease.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 14:35:21 +0000
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