In the time since the current outbreak began, reports on Ebola have flooded nearly every news medium in every country. As the death toll rises with each day (currently, it surpasses 4,500), the issue has justifiably escalated to a matter of international concern. However, so much attention surrounding any one topic can easily warrant discrepancy that leaves one baffled and with one largely uncertain question: as Canadians, how worried do we need to be?
It comes down to this: The currently affected countries in West Africa are not equipped to handle this issue on their own, and if world governments cannot come together to provide enough support, the rate of infection will only increase exponentially.
Even as more cases are popping up outside of Africa, it is important to remember that four confirmed cases in the United States are not yet an outbreak. Those are isolated incidents, where disease has reached these individuals only after travelling to the affected areas and coming in direct contact with infected patients. Until Ebola is being spread on American soil, mass panic in regards to these cases only distracts from the real issue. The focus of developed nations at this point needs to be on the countries that are in fact in the middle of catastrophic outbreaks. As it was mentioned in the World Health Organisation’s fact sheet on the matter, “The most severely affected countries, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have very weak health systems, lacking human and infrastructural resources, having only recently emerged from long periods of conflict and instability.”
The reason that Ebola’s fatality rate in West Africa has reached over 80 percent is of course due to the fact that it is currently the second deadliest disease humanity faces – but also because the affected countries do not have the means to combat it. Especially outside of larger cities, the healthcare systems in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia range from underfunded to virtually nonexistent. Ebola is contagious while a person is symptomatic as well as after death, so healthcare workers and other caretakers are among the groups with the highest risk of contraction. This puts an ever larger strain on the healthcare systems, decreasing the West African countries’ innate ability to address the crisis and increasing the need for foreign aid.
The Ebola virus is gruesome, and it is exactly what developing nations don’t need – yet another concern for the wellbeing of their people. However, in this case in particular, it’s important to realise that when such a communicable disease becomes threat to any area, it is a threat to all of us. The risk of foreign aid workers contracting the disease is quite simply not enough reason to cut off outside support. Author and video blogger John Green, who recently uploaded a very comprehensive video on the matter, put it simply: “We like to imagine that deadly, infectious diseases like cholera or malaria happen to other people, to poor people, that live far away from us. But Ebola reminds us just how false that “us-them” dichotomy is … Better healthcare infrastructure in Liberia is not just good for the health and productivity for Liberians, it’s also good for the health and productivity of all humans.”
It is crucial that this crisis is approached carefully, and the fact that it is not a direct concern for many North Americans at this time does not mean we should be making light of it (that’s right – no “dressing up as ebola” for Halloween). However, it is ludicrous for the international community to dissolve into mass panic.This is an issue that will be addressed best with diplomacy, swift action, and a factual understanding of the most effective means to prevent spread of the virus itself.
In short, next time you catch someone making an Ebola “joke,” maybe take a moment to remind them that a disease affecting thousands of underprivileged Africans and has the potential to become a global disaster is not something to make fun of — but also don’t rush to seal up your doors and windows.
To keep up to date on the Ebola outbreak, I recommend the highly credible resources available directly from the World Health Organisation. A page of regularly updated situation reports may be found here.
