DOWNLOAD VIDEO
Two years after the Ebola outbreak began in Guinea, authorities there announced that the virus that sickened more than 28,000 people and killed an estimated 11,000 in the affected region of West Africa appears to be gone. Guinea’s last-known Ebola patient has tested negative for the virus for six weeks now. At least 2,500 people died there after the epidemic began in a small village and spread rapidly throughout the rest of the country and on to at least 10 other countries, mostly in West Africa. Some 6,000 children in Guinea were orphaned during the outbreak, experts say. While cause for celebration, health experts stayed wary Tuesday since the possibility for a surprise outbreak remains. Ebola survivors can sometimes continue to carry the disease after they have recovered, unexpectedly transmitting it later on and causing mini-outbreaks. Since Liberia made a similar announcement several months ago, two separate flare-ups of Ebola have occurred. Guinea will now enter a 90-day period of enhanced surveillance while they wait to make sure no more isolated cases will pop-up, according to New York Times reporter Sheri Fink. Much of the blame for the slow initial response to the epidemic fell on the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations body tasked with monitoring public health internationally. Experts accused the organization of moving too slowly in its early response to the outbreak and allowing political pressure to influence its approach, according to Fink. The WHO acknowledged these criticisms and has pledged to strengthen its outbreak response in the future. “These are countries with poor health systems to begin with, and all the countries of the world have realized that there is an interest in strengthening those health systems,” Fink said.Vocab
Ebola
— an infectious and generally fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding, spread through contact with body fluids infected by the Ebola virus
epidemic
— a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time
Warm up questions
- What do you know about the Ebola epidemic in West Africa?
- Why is it important to contain the spread of infectious diseases in other parts of the world?
- How do health officials determine when an epidemic has ended?
Critical thinking questions
- Why is Guinea remaining cautious even though its last Ebola patient has been virus-free for six weeks?
- Is the criticism aimed at the World Health Organization justified? Why or why not?
- What can the international community learn from the Ebola epidemic in West Africa when faced with future health crises?
