What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa?
An Ebola outbreak of unprecedented scope emerged in West Africa in December 2013 and presently continues unabated in the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Ebola is not new to Africa, and outbreaks have been confirmed as far back as 1976. The current West African Ebola outbreak is the l...
Published in: | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 https://doaj.org/article/4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 2023-05-15T15:13:30+02:00 What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? Kathleen A Alexander Claire E Sanderson Madav Marathe Bryan L Lewis Caitlin M Rivers Jeffrey Shaman John M Drake Eric Lofgren Virginia M Dato Marisa C Eisenberg Stephen Eubank 2015-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 https://doaj.org/article/4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4456362?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 https://doaj.org/article/4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 9, Iss 6, p e0003652 (2015) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 2022-12-31T09:05:39Z An Ebola outbreak of unprecedented scope emerged in West Africa in December 2013 and presently continues unabated in the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Ebola is not new to Africa, and outbreaks have been confirmed as far back as 1976. The current West African Ebola outbreak is the largest ever recorded and differs dramatically from prior outbreaks in its duration, number of people affected, and geographic extent. The emergence of this deadly disease in West Africa invites many questions, foremost among these: why now, and why in West Africa? Here, we review the sociological, ecological, and environmental drivers that might have influenced the emergence of Ebola in this region of Africa and its spread throughout the region. Containment of the West African Ebola outbreak is the most pressing, immediate need. A comprehensive assessment of the drivers of Ebola emergence and sustained human-to-human transmission is also needed in order to prepare other countries for importation or emergence of this disease. Such assessment includes identification of country-level protocols and interagency policies for outbreak detection and rapid response, increased understanding of cultural and traditional risk factors within and between nations, delivery of culturally embedded public health education, and regional coordination and collaboration, particularly with governments and health ministries throughout Africa. Public health education is also urgently needed in countries outside of Africa in order to ensure that risk is properly understood and public concerns do not escalate unnecessarily. To prevent future outbreaks, coordinated, multiscale, early warning systems should be developed that make full use of these integrated assessments, partner with local communities in high-risk areas, and provide clearly defined response recommendations specific to the needs of each community. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 9 6 e0003652 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Kathleen A Alexander Claire E Sanderson Madav Marathe Bryan L Lewis Caitlin M Rivers Jeffrey Shaman John M Drake Eric Lofgren Virginia M Dato Marisa C Eisenberg Stephen Eubank What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
An Ebola outbreak of unprecedented scope emerged in West Africa in December 2013 and presently continues unabated in the countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Ebola is not new to Africa, and outbreaks have been confirmed as far back as 1976. The current West African Ebola outbreak is the largest ever recorded and differs dramatically from prior outbreaks in its duration, number of people affected, and geographic extent. The emergence of this deadly disease in West Africa invites many questions, foremost among these: why now, and why in West Africa? Here, we review the sociological, ecological, and environmental drivers that might have influenced the emergence of Ebola in this region of Africa and its spread throughout the region. Containment of the West African Ebola outbreak is the most pressing, immediate need. A comprehensive assessment of the drivers of Ebola emergence and sustained human-to-human transmission is also needed in order to prepare other countries for importation or emergence of this disease. Such assessment includes identification of country-level protocols and interagency policies for outbreak detection and rapid response, increased understanding of cultural and traditional risk factors within and between nations, delivery of culturally embedded public health education, and regional coordination and collaboration, particularly with governments and health ministries throughout Africa. Public health education is also urgently needed in countries outside of Africa in order to ensure that risk is properly understood and public concerns do not escalate unnecessarily. To prevent future outbreaks, coordinated, multiscale, early warning systems should be developed that make full use of these integrated assessments, partner with local communities in high-risk areas, and provide clearly defined response recommendations specific to the needs of each community. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kathleen A Alexander Claire E Sanderson Madav Marathe Bryan L Lewis Caitlin M Rivers Jeffrey Shaman John M Drake Eric Lofgren Virginia M Dato Marisa C Eisenberg Stephen Eubank |
author_facet |
Kathleen A Alexander Claire E Sanderson Madav Marathe Bryan L Lewis Caitlin M Rivers Jeffrey Shaman John M Drake Eric Lofgren Virginia M Dato Marisa C Eisenberg Stephen Eubank |
author_sort |
Kathleen A Alexander |
title |
What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? |
title_short |
What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? |
title_full |
What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? |
title_fullStr |
What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? |
title_full_unstemmed |
What factors might have led to the emergence of Ebola in West Africa? |
title_sort |
what factors might have led to the emergence of ebola in west africa? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 https://doaj.org/article/4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 9, Iss 6, p e0003652 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4456362?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 https://doaj.org/article/4062fd5fbd76472982e132eeb39772c7 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003652 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0003652 |
_version_ |
1766344059175043072 |