Ebola’s Warning for Unprepared World

Ebola’s Warning for Unprepared World

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Executive Summary

The paper examines how unprepared the countries are in fighting the spread of Ebola disease. Following the outbreak of Ebola that claimed 729 people in Sierra Leone, concerns have been raised to provide training of medical officers at the terminal points and provision of medical facilities. From the a case study on the management of Ebola waste from infected zones, there has been the need for further training on the staff to prevent spreading of the disease to the general population. Nevertheless, grave concerns have been raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to control air travels and the spread of the disease through electronic cigarettes.

Introduction

The world is finally starting a war against the catastrophic spreading of Ebola disease especially in West Africa. However, the clinical staffs are not well prepared to deal with the deadly Ebola virus. And as union leaders in United Kingdom have warned, fears are escalating about the dangers of the worst outbreak after the death toll rose to 729 in Sierra Leone. However, the challenge facing out stricken regions is the use of outdated equipment and strategies of fighting the disease. As the danger of an outbreak at the airports escalates due to the immigrants, there is the inadequacy of a response to the crisis. There is an alarming need for clinical officer teams at the country’s terminals to be well prepared in the timing and scope of Ebola transmission. The aim is to measure its magnitude of spreading and contain it before it gets into the general population (Gottlieb, 2014).

Approaches and Results

According to the WHO’s report, the fatality rate of Ebola diseases is 90% and in the latest outbreak, it has killed about 729 people in Sierra Leone. The immigration officers at the borders and the airports are at the forefront at fighting the diseases since they are the first point of contact with people coming off the aircrafts. They can also identify a passenger who appears to be ill. Until recently when the issue has come to an attention worldwide, there has been no health facility and containment Centre at the borders. In addition, the staffs had not been given any guidance on what to do in case of an outbreak. In a mission to combat the unprecedented attack, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released $100 million to increase resources, medical expertise, regional preparedness and co-ordination in Sierra Leone. The plan is intended to ease the strain on limited treatment facilities, in an effort to stop the killer virus from spreading to other countries (Palmer, 2011). The U.S. National Nurses United (NNU) conducted longitudinal study on the management of wastage in from Ebola patients at the medical airport emergency hospitals in more than 200 hospitals in 25 states. The findings showed that as much as the clinical officers may be prepared to fight the disease, their experience in handling patients and the waste showed that they were logistically unprepared. NNU collected data on the progressive stages of the disease and found that even after coming from the infected zones, the staffs could still show symptoms of the disease within 21 days after contact with Ebola patients. The data was collected using a random sampling technique in all the emergency centres in the United States (Harris, 2014).

Conclusion

The WHO has taken international campaigns to create assistant measures for development of therapeutic to counter the epidemic in West Africa and international countries. In addition, there have been campaigns to create awareness and training of health staffs at the airport for the preparedness of an outbreak (McMullen, Howie, Howie, & Philipsen, 2014).

Implications and Recommendations

A major grave concern has been raised by WHO that disease could be spreading by international travels and electronic cigarettes. The volatility of air travels has put the world at a vulnerable state. In order to curb the spread, the United Nations is advocating a better routine surveillance and strategic stockpiling as a countermeasure to detect viral outbreaks and biological attacks.

References

Gottlieb, S. (2014). Ebola’s warning for an unprepared America. The Wall Street Journal.

Retrieved from: http://online.wsj.com/articles/scott-gottlieb-and-tevi-troy-ebolas-warning-for-an-unprepared-america-1410910044Harris, S.A. (2014). UK Border staff are ‘unprepared’ for killer Ebola virus as death toll hits more

than 700. Express.

Retrieved: http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/493620/Ebola-threatening-UK-as-Cobra-meetsMcMullen, P.C., Howie, B.A., Howie, W.O., & Philipsen, N. (2014). Caring for the Dangerous

Patient. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 9(9), 568-575.

Palmer, S.R. (2011). Oxford textbook of zoonoses: Biology, clinical practice, and public health

control. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.