Ebola Outbreak

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.

As with any infectious disease, whether it originates from a virus, bacterium, or fungi, there is the possibility that it will become an epidemic. For centuries, deadly diseases have threatened to infect and possibly eradicate mankind. The Ebola virus, which causes an extremely fatal hemorrhagic fever, is considered to be one of the most aggressive contagions in the world. The Ebola virus is a member of a family of RNA viruses known as, “Filoviridae” and is composed of multiple distinct subspecies (Bausch et al. 2007). It causes Ebola Virus Disease, a fairly new disease that plagues multiple poor countries within Africa. The virus mainly attacks the lymphatic system, but also severely damages the reproductive and reticuloendothelial systems. The Ebola virus disease causes muscle pain, weakness, limited kidney and liver function and extreme blood loss due to failure of blood clotting.

got sick and died. This outbreak infected 318 with a death rate of 93% (Le

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

The last Ebola outbreak was merely a year ago. This tragedy is fresh; I remember watching the news in fear that Ebola would come to America…until it did. First in Texas then again when two American doctors were flown from Africa to Emory. The idea of Ebola being in my back yard was absolutely terrifying! I couldn’t stop imagining what I’m going to do when I’m a medical student and a biohazard level four patient is in the same hospital as me.

In the most basic sense, Ebola has RNA as its genetic material and belongs to the virus family Filoviridae, the same family as the Marburg virus. According to Peters and Peters (1999), Marburg virus was first discovered in 1967. It was the first virus of the Filoviridae family uncovered; Ebola was the second, being discovered in 1976. Ebola was initially encountered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where several outbreaks of Hemorrhagic Fever were documented. Teams sent to deal with these outbreaks found an almost total cessation of transmission. Survivors, however, provided an excellent source of data.

Ebola or also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever in years past is a rare and very deadly disease if left untreated. Ebola is caused by an infection with one of the five Ebola virus strains. Ebola virus disease (EVD) first appeared in 1976 in two simultaneous outbreaks, one in Nzara, Sudan, and the other in Yambuku, Democratic Republic of Congo. The latter occurred in a village near the Ebola River, from which the disease takes its name (World Health Organization, 2015). The disease is known to affect not only humans but primates as well such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and monkeys. People may contract Ebola in a number of ways through direct contact with bodily fluids including semen, breast milk, vomit, sweat, feces, saliva, urine, and blood.

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.

Ebola (EBO) virus has made its presence around April and May in 1995 (7). The virus, at first, was medically diagnosed as epidemic dysentery but was suspected by other medical providers to something else (7). The specimens of the patients were then sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in which was diagnosed as Ebola viral hemorrhagic fever, to conform their suspicion (7). This was the first large outbreak of the virus and has since then been a topic of study because of its high mortality.

Ebola, once transmitted to a human is referred as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is an uncommon viral infection that deliberately targets every part of the human body with the exception of the skeletal system. When this lethal disease enters the host, it will first cause pain throughout the body and dramatically increase the body's temperature. Next, internal and external bleeding tends to occur, specifically form the face. After that, it will simply destroy the bodily tissue that holds the host's organs together. Aside from this, what the virus actually does and how it is transmitted, little to nothing is known due to the complex structure of the infectious disease, as there are five identified Ebola virus species. Four of the five affect humans

Imagine being diagnosed with a life threatening disease. No cure has been found, and the disease is highly contagious. This is essentially what having the Ebola virus would be like. The three affected West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia are doing all that they can to contain and eliminate the Ebola virus. However, every country has a different method for handling crisis. These differing methods can be shown in the recent bringing of the Ebola virus to the United States from Western Africa. The strategies used for containment as well as elimination of the Ebola virus in both Western Africa and the United States may be similar, but are wildly different.

Ebola was first discovered in 1976 at the Ebola River which is currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, not many outbreaks have occurred. That is until 2014 many more outbreaks have taken place in Africa. People get Ebola through direct contact with bodily fluids (skin, eyes, nose, or mouth). It is not airborne and can be transferred by infected fruit bats and bodily fluids. To this day there's no cure, but treatments are being developed and researched. Ebola’s symptoms are very deadly. The first 9 days consist of a headache, fatigue, fever, and muscle soreness. When it is the 10th-day people may experience a sudden high fever, vomiting blood, and a behavior change.

“No variation in the health of … states… is the result of chance; it is the direct result of physical and political conditions in which nations live” enumerated epidemiologist and founder of medical statistics William Farr, in 1866 (Walraven 2013). The current Ebola outbreak is a good case study highlighting disparity of healthcare between core and peripheral nations.

Although the virus became such an impact on recent events, Ebola originated several years prior. The virus was discovered in 1976 near the Ebola River Valley in Zaire. The infection was named after the river nearby but the location is now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “The WHO director-general declared the West African outbreak a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health Regulation” (Ebola Outbreak). Since then, many cases have appeared sporadically and have left many in fear. Two imported cases were reported in the U.S. but precautions are being taken to prevent the virus from spreading frantically. Ebola, previously known as a hemorrhagic fever, is a deadly disease

Carney & Weber (2015) discuss the impact the Ebola crisis had globally which leads to the conclusion that the recent Ebola crisis is a good example for the need to improve public health intelligence on a global level. Public health informatics has been implemented to provide the tools to manage this type of crisis in order to avoid failures. Failures were observed during the Ebola crisis which included process, policy and responsiveness. During the Ebola crisis the process failure developed due to how quickly the disease spread at a much faster pace than organizational readiness was prepared and delayed interventions such as diagnosing and quarantining to battle the disease effectively. An example of this failure would be patient zero reporting