ebola

Question 1

nature and causes

Answer 1

• The infected bats transmit Ebola either directly to humans, or indirectly via secondary host
• fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, backache and sore throat, vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, renal failure and in some cases internal and external bleeding can occur.
• There is no specific treatment for Ebola.

Question 2

spatial distribution

Answer 2

• isolated to the African continent, with outbreaks occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Uganda, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria
• some cases of imported ebola in Senegal, USA and Italy

Question 3

temporal distribution

Answer 3

• To date there have been a total of 26 human Ebola outbreaks between 1976 and 2017. resulting in more than 30,000 reported clinical presentation and 12,630 deaths

Question 4

magnitude

Answer 4

• Unprecedented magnitude of 28,616 suspected, probable, and confirmed cases reported in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone

Question 5

duration

Answer 5

• The 2014-2016 outbreak lasted two and a half years after the first case was discovered in 2014

Question 6

frequency

Answer 6

• There have been more than 25 known ebola outbreaks in Africa since the disease was first identified in Zaire in 1976

Question 7

probability

Answer 7

• The probability of contracting the virus is extremely high in specific countries in Africa when there is an outbreak

Question 8

scale of spatial impact

Answer 8

• The scale of spatial impact was mainly the countries in West Africa and very few places outside of Africa that had received a few cases

Question 9

physical factors affecting vulnerability

Answer 9

• countries with poorly performing economies
• rapidly expanding population growth
• inadequate public health systems
• poverty
• inadequate health infrastructure
• cultural practices
• limited education
• the country’s conflict history
• low availability of trained health pros

Question 10

human factor affecting vulnerability

Answer 10

• lack of literacy
• low education
• use of traditional healers over western healers

Question 11

risks to be managed

- loss of property/ life

Answer 11

• Infecting virus species
• Outbreak geography = the country, regions, size and location of the community where the first case resides, along with the proximity to transport networks
• Route of infection = important in determining course of disease and associated mortality
• Clinical symptoms
• Effectiveness of intervention = cases lowered as a result of implementation of more effective isolation and containment strategies

Question 12

risks to be managed

- infrastructure/ jobs/ economy

Answer 12

• Workforce was affected due to employees being sick or caring for family members
• Absenteeism at the workplace
• fall in wages, disruption of transport, closure of borders
• due to the 2014-2016 outbreak, the GDP fell between 2 to 4 percent for sierra leone, guinea and Liberia
• hardest hit industries include agriculture, services, construction, mining, tourism, transport
• gov had to redistribute expenditure to fund aid, development etc

Question 13

risks to be managed

- impact on physical and mental health

Answer 13

• Psychologically, ebola survivors face a future of fear, grief, stress and shame
• Individuals who survive ebola are often treated as social outcasts and are prohibited from returning to their homes
• There have been reported threats if violence and killings of survivors, health car workers and ebola educators, by the very community they were once part of
• traumatic memories resulting from witnessing disease symptoms and death