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Introduction
The World Health Organization on March 23, 2014, reported many cases arising from the Ebola Virus Disease in the rural area of Southern Guinea. The earlier identification and recognition of these cases marked the start of the Ebola Epidemic well-recognized in history. The West African countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia were having a rough time in try to control the increasing outbreak of the due rampant fear among people, and there were also inadequate health systems to provide care to the infected people. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) fear arose among people due to the transmission of the Ebola virus such that patients with symptomatic were running away from the treatment units, families were also hiding their loved ones in their homes, there was also physical contact with the infectious corpses and other sought the traditional healers (Chan, 2014). In this essay, however, the focus will be on the causes and effects from this disease during the outbreak and in the later years.
The Cause of Ebola
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a non-fatal and rare infection which mainly caused by a single strain of the Ebola virus. The virus is transmitted to human beings from wild animals and later spread to the populace through human-to-human transmission. The first Ebola Virus Disease outbreak was witnessed in 2014-2016 in the remote villages in Central Africa especially in West Africa both major rural areas and urban areas. In these regions, Ebola aroused fear since people witnessed how the manifestations of the bodies of the people who have died and those who were infected (Dixon, & Schafer, 2014).
Bleeding patients and Corpses
During this period, one of the major causes for the spread of this disease was the bleeding patients and the corpses who posed severe infection risks to family members and healthcare workers. The majority of the healthcare workers and the family members got the virus as they were taking care of the sick patients. In December 2014 about 649 health workers became infected while 365 of them died.
Insufficient Treatment Units
Another cause of the disease during the outbreak was the inadequacy treatment units when the outbreak of the diseases was at its peak, thus due to the limited treatment units the family members of the victim risked their lives to provide care for the infected without using any protection.
Myths and Misinformation
Thirdly, the spread was also attributed by the misinformation any myths which were being driven by the news report and the lack of public messaging. A good example is the rumours which were circulating that the global medical groups were spreading Ebola intentionally. The identified have contributed to the outbreak of the disease in the years then especially on the spread of wrong information and the defective treatment units that forced family members to provide care for their loved ones without protecting increasing the spread of the disease.
The Effect
Affecting the Functionality of the Society
Ebola is capable of affecting many parts of a functional community if it is not adequately addressed and treated. As a result, the outbreak led to country stigmatisation and was identified as the “infected countries”. Additionally, in those countries which the disease had spread they had to deal with nighttime curfews, neighbourhood quarantines and states emergency of emergency had also been imposed such issues affected the functionality of the society negatively (Trad, Fisher & Tambyah, 2014).
Declining Economies
Apart from that, the fact that most of these countries where the disease had spread are burdened by poverty the economies started falling, travel to and from West Africa became curtailed, border markets were closed, there was also hunger spread, agricultural and trade production faltered, people suffered psychologically, and also huge losses were experienced hence causing more fear of the disease (Shultz, Baingana & Neria, 2014). As a result, since the outbreak of this disease these countries have had a rough period in getting back to their feet as most people are still in fear of contracting the disease. Furthermore, the regions which the virus spread are still straining to improve their economy which had come to a standstill owing to the restrictions put in travelling to and from West Africa.
Common Mental Disorders
Common mental disorders were also experienced in the affected West Africa such stress disorder, anxiety, and depressive disorder. The primary threat factors for mental health issues include trauma due to caring and witnessing a very ill person, death of trained healthcare providers and orphaning children. All these factors were not natural for people to deal with in the later years even after treatment of the disease. As a result, the absence of psychological and mental support systems including insufficient mental health professional in the West African countries have increased the enduring psychological problems. In Sierra Leone and Liberia there is only one practising psychiatrist, and there are just a few mental health nurses who can manage and assess common mental disorders. Currently, given the high risks of Ebola virus infection global aid organisations have started to focus on the psychological and mental health support programs to aid people in dealing such outbreak (Gatherer, 2014).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident that from the essay apart from the initial origin of the Ebola virus, the outbreak itself also intensified the spread of the disease-causing severe effects on the individuals and the country at large. According to the say, after the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa in 2014, the virus continued to spread due to some factors such as bleeding patients and also touching corpses without any protection, lack of adequate treatment units, and myths and misinformation which made people not to seek medical treatments. The further outbreak of this disease led to the creation of health programs to help people in dealing in such traumas especially since the outbreak of the disease led to mental illness especially to the families who lost their loved ones. The essay has also argued that the explosion affected the functionality of the society and also affected the economy of these nations as people were not allowed to and from West Africa.
References
Chan, M. (2014). Ebola virus disease in West Africa—no early end to the outbreak. New England Journal of Medicine, 371(13), 1183-1185.
Dixon, M. G., & Schafer, I. J. (2014). Ebola viral disease outbreak–West Africa, 2014. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 63(25), 548-551.
Gatherer, D. (2014). The 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa. Journal of general virology, 95(8), 1619-1624.
Shultz, J. M., Baingana, F., & Neria, Y. (The 2014 Ebola outbreak 2015). and mental health: Current status and recommended response. Jama, 313(6), 567-568
Trad, M. A., Fisher, D. A., & Tambyah, P. A. (2014). Ebola in West Africa. The Lancet infectious diseases, 14(11), 1045
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