An Ebola Update: what we’ve learned since
Liberia
Josh Mugele, MD
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_epidemic_in_West_Africa
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Ebola in Liberia
o 9602 Cases
o 4301 Deaths (likely 2-3x higher than official reports)
o Healthcare workers died at a rate 100 times greater than civilians (source: WHO)
Ebola in the US
o 4 cases, 1 death
o $30,000 per patient per day (source: Emory University)
o 40 bags of waste generated per day (source: Emory University
New clinical findings of ebola
o Profound volume loss (~10L per day)
o Severe electrolyte imbalance
o Decreased mortality rate, estimated 10%
 Lower viral load
 Better supportive care
 Earlier detection
o Post-Ebola Syndrome
 Long-term vision problems
 Memory loss
 Arthralgias
 Fatigue
Lessons Learned
o Fear is the enemy
o Communication and Cooperation
 Among healthcare facilities
 Between healthcare and public health
o Healthier patients and communities are more likely to recover
 Increased deaths in W Africa due to devastated healthcare infrastructure
 Food crisis
 Political crisis
o We don’t know what’s coming next
 Need preparation for all hazards/outbreaks
o We can prevent the next outbreak
 Invest in poor nations’ healthcare infrastructure