Ebola: Getting the Facts
What do you know about Ebola?
What is Ebola?
• Ebola is a very deadly, dangerous and infectious
disease for humans.
• It was first identified in 1976 following an outbreak in
the DR Congo.
• Fruit bats are the main carriers.
• Humans contract Ebola when they’re bitten or
scratched by an animal carrying it, or if they eat
infected meat.
How is Ebola transferred between humans?
• Ebola outbreaks are rare and is actually very hard to
contract from another human.
• It is primarily caught via direct contact with an infected
person’s blood or bodily fluids.
• There is currently no cure or vaccination against
Ebola. However, if kept contained, the spread and risk
of catching the disease can be minimal.
• Currently, Ebola normally has a fatality rate of 50%. In
this most recent outbreak however, fatality rates are
as high as 75%.
Symptoms of Ebola
• It can take between 2 days to 3 weeks for the
symptoms of Ebola to become apparent.
• On average symptoms tend to appear between 8-10
days.
• Early symptoms include:
• Fever
• Severe headache
• Joint and muscle aches
• Chills
• Weakness
Symptoms of Ebola
• As the disease progresses, symptoms become
increasingly severe, and a person suffering from
Ebola will experience:
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Red eyes
• Raised rash
• Chest pain and cough
• Stomach pain
• Severe weight loss
• Bleeding and Bruising
• Internal Bleeding
• Ebola can eventually lead to organ failure and death.
Where can Ebola be found?
West Africa Outbreak
• The recent outbreak of Ebola is mostly contained to a
small part of West Africa.
• 2014’s Ebola epidemic is thought to originate from
Gueckedou, which is a village on the boarder of Guinea.
• Cases then began to rapidly spread throughout
Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
West Africa Outbreak
• Cases of Ebola have also been found in Mali, Nigeria,
Senegal, DR Congo, Spain, UK and USA.
• However, the disease has been contained and
isolated within these countries.
• Nigeria and Senegal have even been able to state
that they are now ‘Ebola free’!
• Between 1976 and 2012 1,590 people were recorded
to have died from Ebola.
• As of January 5th 2015 the total death toll from this
outbreak is 8,168.
Why do you think the 2014 Ebola epidemic has been
so bad within Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia?
What factors may have caused its rapid spread?
Borders
• Look at the blue dot on the
map. This roughly shows
the area of Gueckedou,
which is where the initial
outbreak of Ebola is thought
to have originated.
What is it close to?
• The village is very near to the borders of both Sierra
Leone and Liberia. In this area, crossing back and forth
between these three countries is a daily norm.
How could this have affected the spread of Ebola?
Healthcare
• Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia have very unsteady
health systems, and very limited staff and medical
resources. They don’t have the capacity to cope with
emergencies like Ebola.
• Hospitals aren’t as common, and tend to be miles
away from rural areas. They don’t have anything like
the NHS, and so treatment can be expensive.
Did you know...?
In Sierra Leone they have
only 120 qualified doctors to
serve the WHOLE country!
Restricted Travel and Migration
• Getting to hospitals takes time and is difficult because
most roads aren’t tarmacked, and make for difficult
driving. By the time a sick patient reached hospital,
there was a limited chance of survival, and a higher risk
that the disease has been spread.
• Upon the initial outbreak people moved away from
infected areas. This meant that people who had come
into contact with the disease, would have then carried it
elsewhere.
What areas do you think people moved to?
Education
• Education is very limited in Sierra Leone, Guinea and
Liberia. A majority of the population in each of these
countries are illiterate.
What does ‘illiterate’ mean?
• To prevent the spreading of Ebola, people need to be
kept well informed. This is hard when people can’t
read
educational
posters
and
have
many
misconceptions about the disease, and don’t know
how to stop it from spreading.
What other ways can people become educated and
learn the facts about Ebola?
Water
• Keeping patients rehydrated is key in treating Ebola.
An estimated 250 litres of water is needed per day to
treat just 1 patient with Ebola.
• However, in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia there is
a very limited access to clean water. This limits the
treatment of patients with the essential and necessary
care.
Sanitation
What do we mean by ‘Sanitation’?
• Sanitation is crucial in keeping Ebola controlled and
contained. In Africa, access to decent sanitation is very
difficult.
How is Ebola spread?
• A lot of the time people will go to the toilet, dump their
waste and wash themselves, their dishes and clothes
in the same place, or very close by. This means
diseases can spread rather easily.
What have you learned about Ebola?
Activity
Create an informative flier about the importance of water
and sanitation in tackling Ebola.
Remember to include:
• A title, headings and subheadings
• Key information – don’t waffle, keep points clear and
concise.
• Colour to make your information stand out
• Pictures to get your message across
• Bullet points
What else do you need to remember?
Activity
The outbreak of Ebola has formed a lot of fear, due to
people’s misconceptions about the disease.
Create a poster debunking any myths that people may
have about Ebola.
You can use the information from this PowerPoint to help
you, but try and do your own research as well.