Ebola Case Study - Disease Dilemma SG3 Flashcards
What does morbidity rate mean?
Incidence of a disease across a population and/or geographic location during a single year
Where were the highest morbidity rates?
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia
What can the spread of Ebola be described as?
A pandemic
What are the human causes of the outbreak?
Dry seasons being exaggerated by climate change so more bats
Guinea has lost 20% of its forests since 1990 so bats move closer to humans
Guinea ranks 178/187 on the HDI so not developed enough to deal with the virus
Mining across the region allowed for the virus to spread around (expansion diffusion)
Sierra Leone experienced a civil war between 1991-2002 so resources stretched thin
70% of Freetown is an urban slum so poor living conditions
What % of farmers in Sierra Leone abandoned their farms out of fear?
40%
Due to farmers abandoning their land how much did rice rise by?
30%
How much money did the outbreak cost Liberia and what was the GDP?
$228 million
11% GDP
How many children were deprived of education and for how long?
5 million children
8 months
Explain the poverty cycle?
Lack of education leads to lack of skills which leads to low skilled people who take low paid work so there isn’t enough money to buy food and upkeep their houses
What is a direct response?
Type of response which involves measures to directly stop people from getting the disease and prevent it from directly spreading from person to person
What is an indirect response?
Type of response which involves actions which remove or reduce the risk factors for that disease
What were the direct responses to the outbreak?
Treatment centres set up by MSF and red cross
WHO recommended that all persons entering the Ebola patients rooms should wear at least: Gloves, Gown and eye protection and a facemask
WHO recommend a procedure to manage dead bodies which is carried out by the red cross
Officials in Guinea banned the consumption and sale of bats in March 2013
What are the indirect response to the outbreak?
Contact tracing of those who have been in direct contact with a patient
A night time curfew (21:00-06:00) in Liberia
Children’s temperature taken on entry to school
Trained community task forces such as ‘more than me’ who educate the community
Temperature checks at airports to prevent relocation diffusion
What were the major challenges to preventing the spread of Ebola?
Culture of burials when cremation is much safer
Fear of western help
Ebola has the same symptoms of other diseases present at the time
Distrust in the government due to civil wars
Poor healthcare mean insufficient treatment centres
