Joao Victor Malfitano
Mr. Jason Bailey
RESEARCH PAPER
Ebola Virus Sierra Leone
Ebola has brought one of the worst outbreaks of all time, almost 4,000 people died, and
8,700 people were confirmed with the Ebola virus in Sierra Leone. Why was the outbreak so
prodigious? Ebola is a tremendous issue mostly for Western African countries, also for the
whole world that is afraid for the spreading of the “killer virus” which can be speedily spread
once it is on the loose. The EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) has been terrorizing people since it came
out, both mentally and physically, citizens of Sierra Leone are scared of leaving their houses,
having a personal loving life is almost impossible under this impressive circumstance. Africa’s
Africa is known for its poverty, and economy difficulties, which leads to a gigantic issue which is
medicine. Receiving advanced medical supplies in Africa is really tough, Africa was not ready for
Ebola and are looking desperately for a cure.
Ebola was firstly discovered in 1976, at the Democratic republic of Congo (Central
Africa). The first case was by a river called the “Ebola river” which is where the name of the
disease came from. Just like other diseases, EVD came from mammals, monkeys, Gorillas, etc.
In 2014, the disease spread drastically in the western part of Africa which had and still does
have a huge economic problem, that leads to lack of medical care, and obviously poverty. Ebola
was hard to identify because it has the same symptoms that Malaria, and even the flu have,
which are common diseases in Africa, however the symptoms for Ebola are way more stronger,
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Mr. Jason Bailey
the symptoms start with a strong fever, diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and the final stage
hemorrhage that usually is where sick people pass away. Ebola has been a huge problem for
people in Sierra Leone, it is often called the “killer virus” by local people. Citizens from Sierra
Leone are often exposed to Ebola, making their life limited in many ways, due to the fact that
people can get infected by sex, blood, needles, syringes, and being in contact with a person that
is sick.
In 1991 civil war broke out in Sierra Leone, corporal Foday Sankoh and his Revolutionary
United Front begin campaigning against President Momoh, attacking towns close to Liberia. The
range of deaths were 20.000 to over 50.000. Many women were also victims of sexual assaults
during the war the number varies between 215. 000 to 257.000 assaults, also leaving destroyed
buildings, hospitals, houses and most importantly family. Sierra Leone, still has many conflicts
between both sides, but with the epidemic the attack numbers are dropping, they didn’t know
that this civil war was going to be the worst thing that could’ve ever happened in Sierra Leone,
when Ebola broke out in 2014 the hospitals were still at a really bad shape and not ready to
handle this epidemic.
American scientists are looking desperately for a cure, especially after the incident at
Dallas, and Cleveland. There isn’t a cure for Ebola yet, doctors in Sierra Leone are trying their
best to work with what they have, they are using simple procedures, such as, medication to
support blood pressure, oxygen- therapy, and providing body salts, the treatment is basic and
inconsistent. The recovery is based on the patient’s immune system and how he responds to
the medications. Scientists are working on two vaccines, and the results so far are really
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Mr. Jason Bailey
promising. The first vaccine is called cAd3- Zebov, it uses a chimpanzee derived adenovirus
vector with an Ebola virus gene inserted(who.int). The second vaccine is still getting analyzed, it
has the same principles as cAd3- Zebov, although it hasn’t been tested yet the name of the
vaccine is rVsV- Zebov for the use in Ebola outbreaks caused by the Zaire strain (the strain of
the Ebola virus).
Sierra Leone has a beautiful coast, many swamps, wooded hills but overall Sierra
Leone is a flat country, therefore there are many farmers and farms. In Sierra Leone, the
most commonly way of work is farming, unfortunately it is difficult to proceed with this kind
of work because of the constant contact with animals, and food. If a worker at a farm is
contaminated and he touches animals, and food he can transmit the disease to other people
that contact with the animal or with the food. “Due to limited surgical and obstetric skills
among health providers and poor functioning of health facilities, obstetric and surgical
emergencies cost many lives and disabilities” (operation Ebola, 49). Sierra Leone has a
worrying economic issue, since its independence from Britain in 1961. Sierra Leone’s
economic score is 47.5, Sierra Leone is ranked 42nd with 47 countries in the Sub- Saharan,
and because of its current issues the economy of Sierra Leone is well below when they are
compared to the rest of the world. Sierra Leone’s main exports are diamonds, and coffee but
what makes Sierra Leone so poor? – The Sierra Leone civil war destroyed many of the
infrastructure in Sierra Leone the most importantly hospitals. Sierra Leone hasn’t recovered
from its brutal civil war, most of the hospitals in Sierra Leone are still destroyed. Sierra Leone
was not ready for this long and painful epidemic.
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Joao Victor Malfitano
Mr. Jason Bailey
The most painful, and difficult phase to handle as a survivor of the Ebola virus is the
mental warfare, and your mentality. Survivors find it hard to escape the thoughts that goes
through their heads after they win the battle against the virus, most of them are scared to go
into public places such as malls and, supermarkets because of the fear that they might still
transmit the disease. Some people can still transmit the disease after they heal, that is why
Ebola is a major concern not just in Sierra Leone but for the whole world, which needs to do
whatever it takes to find a cure, and to prevent the spread to other parts of the planet. Ebola
never leaves the person, once you get it, you will always have it both mentally and physically,
Ebola has a big impact on someone’s person lives, the frustration of transmitting the disease
through sex, or any other contact with a man or woman is big. “Ebola-related stigma may have
produced unwanted consequences on containment of the epidemic by discouraging suspected
patients from seeking care in order to avoid the label of Ebola “(BMJ global Health). Some
patients choose to not seek medical care, and in some cases the person does not realize that
they have Ebola because of the similarities to the flu, by the time they see that they actually
had Ebola, it is too late and they probably will have transmitted the disease to at least 10
people. Education is a big part of the outbreak, knowing when to go get help at a hospital is an
important aspect to control an outbreak. The Sierra Leone’s education system has been a
challenge. Many teachers are unqualified, most of the teachers do not have their teacher
degree, or any degree at all some of the teachers didn’t finish high school.
Since scientists don’t have a cure for Ebola, citizens and patients from Sierra Leone are
relying on traditional and spiritual healings. Some families would rather use spiritual healing as
the number one cure, and that they are stronger and better to heal Ebola. Unfortunately, many
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“false” spiritual healers are using this epidemic as bait to make money, families that have been
in contact with Ebola, or families that has a parent with the disease. One famous case and
practices were salt baths, but it exposes the healer to the disease. Many healers got sick due to
the constant exposure to infected people, by falsely claiming that they had the cure to Ebola.
Traditional healers, would often attend hospitals or house, and were always in contact with sick
people, and many of them also got infected. Traditional healers are usually important to give
the patients peace and also the families, because it’s such a horrible disease it really gives only
negative thoughts, and under the circumstances that they are in it is important to not give up
and to keep fighting.
Maternal mortality was already a big problem before Ebola. Maternal mortality is
defined by the number of women that died during maternity, Sierra Leone has a huge Maternal
mortality rate which is just another impact that the tragic civil war, and now with the Ebola
outbreak things are not going well in Sierra Leone. The Ebola Virus Disease outbreak has taken
a heavy toll on the entire socio-economic fabric of Sierra Leone. But with support from our
international friends, we fought back,” said President Ernest Bai Koroma (president of Sierra
Leone). The situation is getting slowly better with members of the UN, doctors volunteering to
help this deadly virus, unfortunately nothing was done earlier to avoid the outbreak due to the
limited resources that Sierra Leone had at the time, but like president Ernest Bai Koroma
mentioned, they only got through this crisis due to their international friends such as the
British, the US and the UN countries and organizations that realized that the spread of the
disease was the end of the world. Sierra Leone’s president also mentioned at the United
Nations General Assembly that they are planning on a post Ebola recovery plan “Whilst we are
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making progress to end the epidemic, I commend the United Nations agencies and the
international community for their support and commitment to end the epidemic as well as
support for the Post-Ebola Recovery Plan”.
Ebola is certainty one of the world’s priority, the fear of this horrible disease to
somehow leave Sierra Leone and West Africa as a whole is frustrating. The Ebola Virus Disease
outbreak was humongous by the fact that the country of Sierra Leone wasn’t fully recovered by
the civil war, where many people died and many of its hospitals, and important medical
supplies were destroyed. The economy was another concern, just like any country in Africa that
got its independence , they had to start their government from scratch, and the economy as
well, that’s is why civil war broke out because Sierra Leone was left with many beliefs and not
every citizen agreed with the way that the government was built, even though Sierra Leone is
known for its diamonds and oil their economy is not good, but luckily countries such as the US,
Britain, France and also organizations like the UN helped sending doctors, medicine, and
looking non- stop for a cure. Lastly, the lack of medicine, vaccines played a big part on the
outbreak, due to how Ebola is invisible, because its commonly mistaken with Malaria, and a flu
there wasn’t any time to prepare for it, therefore scientist had to start their vaccine process
from scratch, they are almost getting to the result that they want, but there is still a long way to
go. Nowadays Ebola almost “dead”, scientists are still looking for a cure getting ready for a
possible future outbreak.
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Mr. Jason Bailey
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