Question

Use the Internet to locate one to two (1-2) other articles about this particular Ebola outbreak. Discuss your initial reaction to the news of the outbreak, citing one (1) article about the outbreak. Explain the effect that this has had on your current perception about public health policy.

Answer 1

According to an article from BBC, Ebola was first identified in 1976 in Republic of Congo and it is one of the most dangerous diseases of the modern world according to World Health Organization. This disease has already killed 3850 people worldwide in a short span of time. The symptoms of this disease are sudden fever, body pain which will the lead to diarrhea and internal and external bleeding. This will eventually lead one to death.
According to another article from WHO (World Health Organization), this virus comes from certain animals such as fruit bats, forest antelope and chimpanzees. So people who live near the wilderness and who come in contact with the animals are the ones who are mostly affected. It then spread from human to human through various other means.
In my opinion, Ebola virus attacks only people in the village mostly because of their contact with the animals. Basic amenities including sanitary and medical facilities are not made available to the people in the villages. So, it’s obvious that the governments focus more on the urban development and neglects people in villages. This disparity is seen widely in education, medical facilities, transportation etc. So the lesson from any outbreak, not just Ebola affects village people and they don’t have enough medical facilities to treat themselves.
Public health policy should go through a paradigm shift by strengthening the medical and sanitary facilities in the rural areas to prevent more future outbreaks.