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 Africa - The True Victims of the Ebola Outbreak

 When we sit around and worry about the Ebola virus coming across our borders and causing mass deaths, we lose perspective on the real problem. Here in the Western world, we are fully prepared to deal with this issue and can expect only the bare minimum of infections and deaths. In West Africa, however, the problem is truly severe.

Though the end total of casualties in countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia is unlikely to put a significant dent in the overall populations of these regions, even the limited amount of deaths will have larger repercussions. Farmers are some of those that are the hardest hit due them having less ability to get health care. Thus, food production may see a decline. Many West African countries already have problems with famine, so any negative fluctuation to their ability to make enough food can have a domino affect on overall health.

Also, hospitals are being overwhelmed by those afflicted with Ebola and this means that people who have other diseases will not always receive the health care they need. Add to this the fact that health care workers are one of the highest at-risk groups and thus those skilled in treating Ebola will become sick and possibly die. The end result could be a series of outbreaks of other diseases and a much higher death toll.

Another thing that many people overlook is the economic strain that the Ebola outbreak is putting on these small, poor countries. They’re now being forced to spend much more on health care than they’re used to. This funnels money away from other essential projects, such as providing clean drinking water or ensuring that people are fed. By the time they come out the other end of this crisis, there will be a whole other list of problems to deal with.

Luckily, the international response has been fairly good, so we may be able to alleviate some of the potential issues. The World Health Organization is coming in to help provide treatment, volunteers are arriving every day to provide much-needed personnel and economic aid is being funneled in to help offset the tremendous costs. With any luck, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel and the affected countries will emerge from their outbreaks with stronger health care systems.

 

President Obama Becomes Victim of Ebola Fallout

 What do people like to do whenever something goes wrong? Why, blame the leader of the country, of course. Regardless of the fact that President Obama has nothing to do with the Ebola outbreak and has been taking the advice of the leading health organizations when implementing policies to help protect US citizens, people still love using a bad situation to either vent their anger or try to push their own political agendas. It’s the worst form of predatory behavior and all it serves to do is complicate matters and make it harder for the government to implement reasonable policies.

Despite the Center for Disease Control (CDC) giving expert advice on how to deal with Ebola and spelling out in plain detail what conditions are safe regarding people who may be infected, people still want massive overkill. And when Obama does not respond to their demands, they point the finger at him for every new case of Ebola within our borders.

Take, for example, the 21-day quarantine that’s being imposed by some states. This level of quarantine is completely unnecessary and negatively affects the level of help that Ebola-stricken countries will receive. In addition, people are calling for travel bans and Ebola screening at airports. These too will discourage people with the proper skills from wanting to go to West Africa and save lives.

The reality is that Ebola isn’t truly a major threat. Moderate actions are being taken by the President so that we can have a balance between protecting ourselves and doing what must be done in order to remove the Ebola threat entirely. But enemies of the Obama administration feed off the public fear and demand that he implement sometimes ludicrous policies. This spreads misinformation about the virus and creates an even higher level of public panic. These politically-driven actions are irresponsible and ultimately only serve to worsen the Ebola crisis worldwide. President Obama is not responsible for a viral outbreak and listening to his critics will do nothing but cause the situation to become more dire in the very countries that need our help the most.

 

Ebola - Finding a Cure

 We can, as a country and as an international community, only do so much to strike against the Ebola outbreak. Within our own borders the problems are simple enough that we have nothing to worry about. In West Africa, however, the threat is a serious one. We can protect health care workers and give the best possible treatment to the infected, but only the development of a proper cure will end this battle once and for all.

Currently, there are several organizations working toward creating a cure and a vaccine. The World Health Organization has a trial vaccine that will be ready to distribute sometime between now and January. The first human trials are being conducted right now and, if they are successful, the first step toward stopping Ebola from spreading could be within reach.

Also, several major pharmaceutical companies are racing to get vaccines up and running. Their intentions may be a little less than altruistic and more money-driven, but a cure is a cure. These various companies estimate that they’ll have millions of doses of their new vaccines ready sometime before the new year. These efforts are partially funded by a multi-million dollar grant from the US government.

To look at the crisis in an optimistic way, a vaccine for Ebola would never have received so much attention if not for the severity of this outbreak. Necessity truly is the mother of invention, as they say. When a disease becomes a problem, the world cracks down and declares war on that disease. Luckily, Ebola is the type of disease that scientists feel will be easy to combat in the long-term.

The big question, of course, is who will be footing the bill for all those vaccines? Will the pharmaceutical companies try to gouge the poor West African countries? Or will they demand that the governments of the world pay them for the cure? Or will they, in an uncharacteristic show of humanity, just give the vaccines away to all those that need it?

 

Only in America - Ebola Hits Halloween Costumes and Decor

 It’s a strange habit of the United States that when a crisis strikes there are always people there to take it lightly and make fun of the troubles we’re experiencing. With the recent Ebola outbreaks, some companies see that there is some money to be made through frivolity. Thus, you may have seen some advertisements for Ebola-themed Halloween costumes lately.

One such costume is the Sexy Ebola Containment Suit. It is, naturally, a costume designed for women that basically mimics a nurse’s outfit but adds some viral outbreak-appropriate yellow boots along with a giant safety mask. Needless to say, some people aren’t too happy about the costume. They feel it’s in bad taste and have been taking to social networking sites such as twitter to express their anger and disgust. Still, I’m guessing that there are plenty of people that were more than willing to buy it and wear it out in public this Halloween. Whether those people had a hard time of it or not, only they could say.

On a related, non-profitable note, one man decided that he was going to decorate his house in Halloween tradition by using the scariest theme that he could think of - an Ebola quarantine zone. He loaded his yard with biohazard-labeled barrels, yellow “Do Not Cross” tape and all sorts of other viral-themed objects. To top it off, he dressed up in a Center for Disease Control costume.

A few of the neighbors were a little peeved at the Halloween décor, but most didn’t seem to mind. Some even thought that maybe the quarantine zone was for real until they realized that the house was just dressed up for the season. All-in-all, it’s nice to see that people still have a sense of humor when it comes to this Ebola mess. It’s a good contrast to all the crazy folks screaming that the disease is a sign of the end of the world.

 

How the Rest of the Western World is Dealing with Ebola

 We here in the United States have had more than our fill of the news media informing us of every little detail about how we’re dealing with the Ebola virus within our own borders. And even though we’ve been advised by the Center for Disease Control on just how to go about that, we’ve still tended to overreact. But how is the rest of the Western world dealing with their own Ebola worries?

The World Health Organization has been making sure to stay current on ways to avoid catching Ebola, particularly with regards to keeping health care workers from contracting the disease. By examining the ways in which volunteer health care folks are protecting themselves, they’ve been able to issue advice on how to improve those techniques.

The country of Canada, however, has chosen to mimic the United States and go the overzealous route. They’ve ceased processing visas from any person that has visited the affected West African countries, effectively locking people out.

In contrast to that paranoia, the country of Cuba has taken the high road and sent 265 of their own medical professionals (with another 200 to head out soon) over to West Africa to help stem the tide of the disease. It’s very unfortunate that most countries in the world have not become as involved as Cuba, choosing instead to hide within their borders and hope the crisis doesn’t touch them.

But where the governments of the world lack in humanity, the citizens of the world are proving themselves to be more than happy to help. The UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee recently started a fund-raising campaign to help West Africa and they managed to raise more than 4 million pounds in the first two days. Furthermore, the UK government will be matching up to 5 million pounds of those donations. Hopefully, this money can provide the necessary protective clothing for health care workers while also helping to educate people on how to stop the spread of Ebola and we can see a quicker end to this.

 

Taking Precautions against Ebola in Africa

 Ebola has hit the worst in West Africa, particularly within the countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Those outside of Africa are making sure that the disease doesn’t spread within their own borders, but what are the affected regions doing to help themselves?

One course of action that’s being taken by countries that share borders with those that have the worst outbreaks is to have armed patrols at those borders. Unlike the United States, where we have strict border controls that help prevent immigrants from coming to the country illegally, West Africa is notorious for having incredibly porous borders. Thus, they’re using armed guards to prevent potentially infected people from switching countries out of fear.

They’re also using quarantine methods that are similar to those we have in the West. These quarantines are much more intense, however. Given that testing and treating people is much harder in these poor countries, they are taking no chances. All those coming from infected countries are being quarantined, regardless of whether they may or may not have had contact with an infected person.

The government has even implemented some rather strange-seeming laws in their efforts to avoid an outbreak within their borders. People are being instructed to wash their hands frequently, to use hand sanitizer whenever making contact with another person, to refrain from eating bushmeat and even to avoid shaking hands with people.

Within the infected countries themselves, the main focus is on treating the ill while preventing the virus from spreading further. Thus, Liberia has recently opened one of the largest Ebola treatment centers on the entire African continent. Not only does this help to contain the infected within one center, it also allows Ebola-infected patients to avoid the other hospitals in the country, freeing up space for those who suffer from other diseases.

Most of these policies are fairly recent, so only time will tell whether they work out in the long run, but any little thing that can be done to alleviate the outbreak in West Africa is a good thing and will, ultimately, speed the process of recovery.

 

Public Continues to Overreact Over Ebola in the US

 Even though there is plenty of information out there that talks about all aspects of the Ebola virus, from how to avoid it to how to recognize it to how to treat it, people within our country continue to freak out and overreact out of ignorance. Sometimes the reactions get so ridiculous that you almost expect these people to start claiming the world is flat in their very next sentence. Paranoia does encourage some strange (and often idiotic) responses during a crisis, but these are a few that are nearly inexcusable.

The first of these involves the currently controversial issue of whether or not to quarantine health workers that have returned from Ebola-infected countries. While the scientific evidence shows no significant advantage to keeping someone in lockdown for 21 days, regardless of whether they show symptoms, a surprising 71 percent of US citizens support such a quarantine. The percentage was higher for Republicans, of course, and those who agreed were lowest among independent parties.

This comes on the back of nurse Kaci Hickox using the law to get herself released from quarantine. Even though she showed no symptoms and tested negative for Ebola, people still wanted to keep her locked up, just in case. Those that understand the virus know that “just in case” doesn’t really qualify as a viable excuse, but people are so afraid that they’re willing to ignore the facts in favor of an extra layer of insulation against the virus, even if that insulation is ultimately a placebo.

In another sadly ridiculous case, people who frequent the gym where Nurse Hickox’s lawyer works out are trying to petition to get him banned. The reasoning behind the idiocy was that because the lawyer was near Hickox, he too may have Ebola. Even though she tested negative, people somehow assume that the lawyer must have magically contracted the disease from some smattering of Ebola that she carried back from West Africa. To make the matter even more ludicrous, the main complaint was that the lawyer could, if he was infected, sweat the virus onto the gym equipment. Sweating out Ebola is, of course, impossible, but don’t expect paranoid people to do even the slightest bit of research before they start ranting and raving.

 

Sierra Leone’s Ebola Crisis Worsens

 For every two victories against the Ebola outbreak, it seems as if there’s at least one loss. This week’s loss involves Sierra Leone, one of the worst-hit countries in this crisis. While the other two hard-hit countries of Liberia and Guinea have been seeing the virus come at least somewhat under control, Sierra Leone is, according to the Africa Governance Initiative, seeing the spread of the disease accelerate.

Reports put new cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone at approximately 12 per day. This is compared to two months ago when the number of new cases was estimated at 1.3 per day. The crisis has even infected the country’s capitol of Freetown. The government is moving quickly to find new ways to help prevent the virus from getting even more out of control, but more outside help is needed.

Luckily, the UK is getting ready to step up the fight in Sierra Leone. They have 20 million pounds ready to go and plan on building three new Ebola testing labs in the country. This will enable health care workers to identify the virus much quicker and thus they will be able to quarantine infected people. Currently it can take up to 5 days to find out whether or not someone has Ebola. The new labs should reduce that wait to 24 hours or less. Removing as much Ebola as possible from the general population will go a long way toward stemming the infection’s spread.

On related note, the Ebola outbreak is threatening more than just those countries that have been the primary victims of the virus. Africa, once a continent known for its rich tourism industry, is now seeing a rapid drop-off in the number of visitors. People are fearful that they will become ill, despite the fact that most African countries have seen no signs of Ebola within their borders. All-in-all, this is a tremendous economic hit for all of Africa and there’s no way to predict just how long it will last.

 

Just How Many Cases of Ebola Will We See in the US?

 With an impatience that the United States seems to be world famous for, people are clamoring for scientists and health care officials to give them answers to all their Ebola-related questions. While most of these can be easily dealt with, some can only be addressed with pure speculation. One such question involves wanting to know exactly how many cases of Ebola will show up in the US before the virus is finally defeated.

The Center for Disease Control has already stated that the likelihood of Ebola getting out of control in the US is almost nil. We’ve currently seen just over a dozen cases and almost all of these involve people coming from countries that are suffering an outbreak or health care professionals that didn’t protect themselves properly while treating those sick with Ebola. Thus, the disease isn’t making its way through the general population and, if the CDC can be believed, it never will.

Of course, this isn’t enough for many people. They want exact numbers and statistics, whether they’re speculative or not. So, in order to appease these folks, experts on the disease have been running simulations to predict the number of new cases the US will see before the year ends. Naturally, something with so much guesswork had varied results. Some simulations said we’ll only see a couple more cases while the worst of the bunch predicted as many as 130 new cases before the end of 2014. So whether Ebola will become a bigger problem or not is based on which simulation you choose to believe.

More likely is that we’ll see numbers somewhere in the middle of those predictions. Some scientists are saying we should expect every major US city to have at least one case of Ebola show up.

Even if the full 130 predicted cases emerge, it’s still unlikely that our country will see a proper outbreak of the disease. And once the new year arrives, we should be looking at the distribution of newly developed vaccines. Until then, we shall likely see the media running with the highest estimate and telling people that “scientists are predicting 130 new cases”, regardless of how much of a half-truth this is.

 

North Korea Prepares for Ebola in Their Own Way

 Although the threat of Ebola is mainly confined to three countries in West Africa, all the nations of the world are preparing for the worst in their own ways. One of those countries happens to be North Korea, a place where one could rightfully see the virus spinning out of control. The lack of investment in proper health care could turn into a nightmare of disease if Ebola were to touch down within the North Korean borders. So what is the Supreme Leader doing to protect his citizens from a potentially deadly outbreak?

Compared to the rest of the world, North Korea has implemented some rather strict policies. The country is already isolated enough from the international community, but now they’re pushing for even more separation. Tourists have been banned from the country. A mandatory 3-week quarantine has been imposed on all those that enter the country, no matter where they happen to be traveling from. All those from any country with even one documented case of Ebola are prohibited from crossing North Korean borders at all. Within the country, people wishing to travel to the capitol must obtain a valid health certificate to prove that they are not infected,

Most speculate that the intense anti-Ebola policies are being enacted because the North Korean government does not have faith that their health care system will be able to control the disease if it happens to enter the country. Thus, keeping the disease out entirely is the most efficient course of action.

In addition, the North Korean media has been redirected toward the purpose of informing people of the dangers of the disease. They show images of the outbreak in other countries and then go on to talk about the measures being taken within their own borders. Unfortunately, information regarding what the disease really is, how it spreads and other pertinent facts aren’t making it to the broadcasts, so North Korean citizens are having a hard time understanding exactly what’s happening.

So if you thought that what countries such as the US were doing was a bit paranoid, look no further than North Korea for a deeper picture of the situation. Then again, an outbreak in their country would likely look much less like the minor inconvenience we have in the States and more like the epidemic that West Africa is experiencing.