Countries have been severely impacted by the development and attack of numerous infectious diseases over time, which has left them economically impoverished due to the loss of skilled inhabitants.
These scenarios divert society's focus away from self-growth and toward battling emerging epidemics.
Therefore, it is crucial to research how society affects the disease's severity, containment, and transmission as well as how it affects the economy.
In this essay, the economic and social effects of epidemic diseases on society are discussed with specific reference to the West African Ebola outbreak. Ebola virus disease, also known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever has its origin in Sudan and DR Congo. The cause of the disease is the Ebola virus, which infects humans and other primates (Heymann 330). Upon infection, symptoms begin to manifest 2-21 days and include fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, sore throat and severe muscle weakness. Eventually, diarrhea, rash, decreased the function of the liver and kidneys, as well as both internal and external bleeding, usually follow (Jamieson 1007). During diagnosis, the first steps involve eliminating diseases with similar symptoms such as malaria and cholera, and then test the blood for viral RNA, viral antibodies or the Ebola virus.
Transmission of the Virus
The Ebola virus spreads through blood, body fluids or even organs of an infected person or animal. Direct body contact with an infected person or even a dead body can lead to infection since the virus can survive for several days outside the body (Jamieson 1008). Cleaning up body fluids of an infected person such as stool or urine, handling unsterilized needles of medical equipment, having unprotected sex and eating raw or undercooked meat are major ways in which the virus is spread (Heymann 341). Nonetheless, routine social activities such as hand shaking between affected people and the rest cannot cause new infections. Even after successful treatment, long-term effects exist including joint aches and fatigue.
Treatment and Control
There is no authorized treatment or vaccine for Ebola despite the presence potential vaccines, and drug therapies developed every day (Bishop 32). Effective quarantine of affected areas immediately helps to control further infections, and then those infected get treatment in isolation and intensive care. Control measures include injecting fluid into veins to control dehydration, which is a common symptom (Heymann 350). Organ support helps to keep blood oxygen level and pressure at the right level as the victim fights the symptoms. Health workers attending to the victims wear protective gear to avoid infection (Bishop 25). As for prevention, washing hands frequently with soap, washing fruits and vegetables properly, avoiding physical contact with infected persons and not eating uninspected meat serve a great deal. Despite this control measures, Ebola kills 50-90% of the infected persons where it attacks (Jamieson 1009).
Economic implication of Ebola attack in West Africa;
The Ebola pandemic in West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia in the period 2014-2015 affected their economies adversely. The prices of the major exports of the countries, which include iron ore, bauxite and gold decreased by 30%-60% compared to previous years, worsening the impact due to the disease (Gatherer 1621). The government lacked enough money to keep the nation moving and effectively fight the disease. Less food consumption, higher unemployment as well as lower schooling affected the local market since even domestically consumed goods were not moving. This crippled the lower and middles class’ economic power, which eventually translated to the national economy. In Liberia, the working population decreased by 40% during the outbreak and in particular women (Gatherer 1623). In Guinea close to 10% homes withdrew their children from school and in Sierra Leone, 9,000 wageworkers, as well as 170,000 self-employed workers, stopped working during the period. This is a drastic decrease in a country's economic power since a working nation is economically empowered.
After the epidemic had subsided, the recovery process was quite slow with GDP growth of 0.3% for Liberia, 0.1 for Guinea and -21.5% for Sierra Leone (Gire 1369). Accompanying this retarded growth was the high expenditure on control and containment of the epidemic amounting to 85% of the GDP in Liberia, 1.3 in Guinea and 5.4% in Sierra Leone. These two phenomena led to inflation in high single digits in the three countries due to the collapse of major economic sectors. In GDP terms, Liberia experienced a drop to 0.7% growth from 8.7% in 2013 because of the low commodity prices (Gire 1371). The rate of recovery from the shock caused by the epidemic is very slow given that some of these countries rely on mining, which takes a lot of time and money to start exploitation again (Gatherer 1622).
International travel advisories given to citizens of other nations affect the economies of those affected since they lost much revenue (Gire 1373). This coupled with the collapsed industries left the nations relying on external aid and grants. In Liberia, grants reached 19% of GDP for 2014 with about 10% for Guinea and 5% for Sierra Leone (Gire 1370). This left the nations with debts that will take time and effort to pay back and as well strain the people economically.
Conclusion
The loss of lives caused by the Ebola virus closely relates to economic constraints experienced by the affected nations. Loss of labor, the collapse of major industries as well as the high expenditure to contain the condition are the major causes of an economic crisis where Ebola strikes. Travel advisories alienate the nation from neighbors who are their immediate help hence aggravating the situation. Since complete prevention is not possible, it is necessary to put aside measures, funding to ensure that the economy is up, and running in spite of the situation.
Work cited
Gire, Stephen K., et al. "Genomic surveillance elucidates Ebola virus origin and transmission during the 2014 outbreak." science 345.6202 (2014): 1369-1372.
Gatherer, Derek. "The 2014 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa." Journal of general virology 95.8 (2014): 1619-1624.
Bishop, Bryan M. "Potential and emerging treatment options for Ebola virus disease." Annals of Pharmacotherapy (2014): 1060028014561227.
Jamieson, Denise J., et al. "What obstetrician–gynecologists should know about Ebola: a perspective from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Obstetrics & Gynecology 124.5 (2014): 1005-1010.
Heymann, D. L., et al. "Ebola hemorrhagic fever: Tandala, Zaire, 1977–1978." Journal of Infectious Diseases 142.3 (1980): 372-376.
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