More than 1,800 people in the West African nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea have contracted the Ebola virus since March and the death toll has surpassed 1,000, according to the latest figures from the World Health Organization. As the number of cases and death continue to climb many are concerned about what can be done to curtail the outbreak and the likelihood of it spreading to the United States.
In a Q&A recently published by the Center for International Security and Cooperation and The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford biosecurity experts David Relman, MD, and Megan Palmer jointly answer these questions and others related to the public health concerns and policy implications of the outbreak. On the topic of broader lessons about the dynamics and ecology of emerging infectious diseases that can help prevent or respond to outbreaks now and in the future, they respond:
These latest outbreaks remind us that potential pathogens are circulating, replicating and evolving in the environment all the time, and human action can have an immense impact on the emergence and spread of infectious disease.
We are starting to see common factors that may be contributing to the frequency and severity of outbreaks. Increasing human intrusion into zoonotic disease reservoir habitats and natural ecosystems, increasing imbalance and instability at the human-animal-vector interface, and more human population displacement all are likely to increase the chance of outbreaks like Ebola.
The epicenter of this latest outbreak was Guéckédou, a village near the Guinean Forest Region. The forest there has been routinely exploited, logged, and neglected over the years, leading to an abysmal ecological status quo. This, in combination with the influx of refugees from conflicts in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Cote d'Ivoire, has compounded the ecological issues in the area, potentially facilitating the spread of Ebola. There seems to be a strong relationship between ecological health and the spread of disease, and this latest outbreak is no exception.
While forensic analyses are ongoing, unregulated food and animal trade in general is also a key factor in the spread of infectious diseases across large geographic regions. Some studies suggest that trade of primates, including great apes, and other animals such as bats, may be responsible for transit of this Ebola strain from Central to Western Africa.
Overall, Relman and Palmer remind the public, "It's important that we not lose sight of more chronic, but less headline-grabbing diseases that will be pervasive, insidious long-standing challenges for Africa and elsewhere."
Previously: Stanford global health chief launches campaign to help contain Ebola outbreak in Liberia and Health workers use crowdsourced maps to respond to Ebola outbreak in Guinea
Photo by European Commission DG ECHO
From August 11-25, Scope will be on a limited publishing schedule. During that time, you may also notice a delay in comment moderation. We'll return to our regular schedule on August 25.
