Ebola Viral Disease in West Africa: A Threat to Global Health, Economy and Political Stability

Omoleke, Semeeh Akinwale; Mohammed, Ibrahim; Saidu, Yauba

Ebola virus disease (EVD) is one of the most dreaded infectious diseases known to mankind in the 21 st century. Its high mortality rate, which ranges from 25 and 90% has made the disease one of the most challenging public health issues in recent years. 1 The disease was first described in 1976 in Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), following an outbreak of a previously unknown acute viral hemorrhagic fever. 2 Since then, deadly outbreaks have been reported in Congo, DRC, Gabon, Sudan and Uganda, with a median of 3 outbreaks (range 3-7) per country. 3 In 2014, the largest and deadliest EVD outbreak in history was recorded in West Africa, representing the first occurrence of the disease outside its traditional niche in Central Africa. Unlike previous outbreaks that were easily contained, this current outbreak is quite significant in several ways, including its longevity, rapid spread, unprecedentedly high mortality and morbidity, and the real potential to become globalized in this fast-paced-highly-inter-connected-world. 4 In view of the aforementioned threats or considerations, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently declared the disease as an International Public Health Emergency and warned that EVD caseload in the crises countries could exceed 20,000 by November 2014. 5 Another expert agency, United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (US-CDC), has forecasted that the caseload in Liberia and Sierra Leone could reach 0.55-1.4 million by January 2015, if additional interventions are not deployed or if cultural practices that do not promote good health continue to persist. 6 In addition, there are concerns that the disease may evolve and linger in several African countries (Figure 1 ), 6 a situation that will place about 22 million individuals at risk of the dis-ease. 7 This is a concern partly because the health systems of these nations are extremely weak (Table 1) [8] [9] [10] [11] and so, they may not be able to effectively handle an EVD outbreak.