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Why the 2021 Ebola Outbreak is Different

2021 Ebola Outbreak In February 2021, the West African country, Guinea, announced that it was facing an outbreak of the Ebola virus, the first the country has seen since the 2013-2016 outbreak. However, this time around, the 2021 Ebola outbreak may be different than that of five years ago.

What is the Ebola Virus?

The Ebola virus is a hemorrhagic fever that is often fatal with a mortality rate that is anywhere from 25% to 90%. The disease spreads through contact with bodily fluids. Ebola survives in nature by spreading between forest-dwelling bats and some other animals, though it sporadically transmits to humans when contact is made with a diseased carcass. Before the epidemic in 2013, most previous Ebola outbreaks occurred in rural communities with cases in the single or double digits.

Previous Ebola Outbreaks

The 2013-2016 epidemic was the largest Ebola outbreak by an unprecedented margin and was the first time the World Health Organization (WHO) considered the disease a major global public health threat. The epidemic, which also began in Guinea, took hold quickly and easily for many reasons. There had previously been no outbreaks of Ebola in West Africa. This caused people to assume the symptoms were that of Lassa fever, a more common disease in the region. The virus had been circulating for three months before the World Health Organization declared an outbreak in March of 2014.

The disease quickly spread within and around Guinea since the systems for contact tracing and containment were weak. By July 2014, it had reached the capital of Guinea, Conakry, and the neighboring capitals of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Funerary traditions and rituals increase transmission because they include touching and spending time with the dead body so traditional burial practices were forbidden.

By the time the WHO designated the virus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, it was borderline out of control. By the end of the epidemic, Ebola had erupted in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. The disease also spread to other countries in Africa, Europe and the U.S. This resulted in nearly 30,000 cases with more than a third of fatalities.

The 2021 Outbreak of Ebola

In February 2021, one Ebola case was confirmed in the village of Goueke in the southeastern region of Guinea. As of March 3, 2021, the number has reached 17 reported cases, 13 of which are confirmed, along with seven deaths.

However, there is less cause for concern than there was five years ago. Though Guinea’s healthcare system needs improvement, past mistakes and experiences have prepared the region better than ever. The world is certainly better positioned to successfully manage the most recent Ebola outbreak.

Reasons for Optimism

  1. Speed: WHO personnel are already working with the Guinean healthcare system to squash the virus before it becomes a major outbreak. A week after the first case was reported, people began setting up testing sites, contact tracing and treatment facilities. Efforts were also made to improve community engagement to stop the spread.
  2. Prevention: President George Weah of Liberia and the WHO are taking preemptive measures to prepare Liberia and Sierra Leone for the possibility of the spread of the virus.
  3. Science: Since the last major outbreak, the WHO has approved two vaccines for use against the Ebola virus. In fact, unlike the last time, when there was no vaccine at all, 500,000 vaccines are ready to be delivered wherever there is an outbreak. The Guinean health ministry has already set up three vaccination sites in the region near the outbreak and had vaccinated more than 1,000 people at the end of February 2021. It is also using a system called ring vaccinations. This interrupts the spread by vaccinating people directly connected to an Ebola case.
  4. Precedent: There have been outbreaks of Ebola since 2016, and thanks to the above, none have gotten out of control. When the DRC had an outbreak in 2018-2020, nearly 50,000 people were already vaccinated, slowing the spread. Many other countries have approved the vaccines in preparation for a possible outbreak within their own borders.

Global panic arises whenever a deadly disease resurfaces in impoverished communities. However, sufficient preparedness, resources and lessons learned will likely ensure the 2021 outbreak of Ebola is short-lived.

– Elyssa Nielsen
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Politics in Liberia

Politics in Liberia
Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world, a ranking that is largely due to the corrupt practices of its politicians. Economic mismanagement and various other corrupt practices plaguing politics in Liberia have sparked protests in the country as its residents become increasingly upset with a failure to tackle the situation. In order to understand the rise in civil unrest and dissatisfaction with the government, it is important to understand certain aspects of politics in Liberia that have collectively brought about its corrupt practices.

10 Facts About Politics in Liberia

  1. Previous Leadership: Liberia’s citizens previously revered their previous president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, but the people eventually accused her of nepotism. Despite taking an oath to tackle corruption in 2005, the country did not effectively deal with its corrupt politics during her time as president. Approximately 20 ministers experienced accusations of corruption during this time, but the country did not take action to convict them of any wrongdoing or investigate the claims against them.
  2. Liberia’s New President: George Weah is currently the president of Liberia; people originally expected that his administration would help the Liberian people overcome the persistent problem of corruption within their politics. However, during his relatively short period as president, inflation rates dramatically increased and economic growth has shrunk.
  3. A Shift in Power: The election that Weah won followed a period of war within Liberia. Liberia elected its previous president during a significant time of war, and the most recent election in 2017 was the first democratic transfer of power that the country observed in many years.
  4. Continued Corruption: The previous election in 2017 took place not only in a time of war but in a time that would have been fairly definitive for politics in Liberia. The continuation of corruption undermined the country’s newfound hope in the democratic transition of power. The state institutions remained weak as a result of the corrupt politics in Liberia and it remained clear that personal relationships within politics still heavily dictated the decision-making process.
  5. The Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission: The country has made attempts in the past to tackle corruption but unfortunately has not been widely successful. Liberia implemented the Liberian Anti-Corruption Commission in 2008 but it only led to two prosecutions between 2008 and 2017.
  6. Wage Discrepancies: Citizens in the nation typically earn less than $2 a day. The corrupt politics in Liberia ensure that its politicians receive compensation on a much larger scale. Legislators often pay themselves as much as $200,000 a year despite the persistent poverty that overtakes its citizens. Because of this, politics in Liberia tend to lean toward a means of personal promotion rather than true public service.
  7. Ebola’s Impact: The economy in the country took a large blow following an Ebola outbreak. While the outbreak was widespread and already difficult to assess and handle effectively, the politics in Liberia seemed to do more harm than good in the wake of the crisis. Its corrupt practices continued the growth of distrust in the government and politicians were unable to adopt a concerted effort to properly tackle and solve the crisis or stop the spreading.
  8. Lack of Protectionist Policies: Liberia, unfortunately, does not have a protectionist policy or law in place for whistleblowing accounts. As a result, authorities have arrested government employees that have pushed for greater transparency within the country’s politics. President Weah recently fired Konah Karmo who served as head of the secretariat for the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. As a replacement, Weah appointed a loyalist in order to further his own personal goals which sparked discontent and criticism from his constituents.
  9. Citizens Take Action: On a more uplifting note, citizens remain actively concerned and are attempting to tackle corruption and questionable politics in Liberia. Approximately two-thirds of the eligible population within the country can vote and this movement has allowed more women and first-time voters to become more involved with the political processes or, at the very least, the protests of corrupt practices.
  10. The Media vs. the Government: The relationship between the media and government has become increasingly tense in recent years as a result of the corrupt politics in Liberia. This relationship has grown so strained that the press union has recently brought attention to the intimidation and stifling practices that the press often face. Personal attacks of journalists and closures of local newspapers have taken place, further solidifying the corrupt politics in Liberia and making the situation more difficult to tackle and solve.

Liberia’s poverty and low economic growth closely link with its political practices. Despite a seemingly calm, democratic transition of power taking place just a few years ago, it seems that the current administration within the country has continued its corrupt practices rather than solving the problem internally. Liberian citizens are now taking a stance against these corrupt practices and attempting to influence their politicians to change their ways. The country can only make economic progress once it addresses its corrupt politics; once a leader comes into power that prioritizes truly challenging corruption or the current president changes his ways, the country will be on the road to progress and increased transparency.

– Hannah Easley
Photo: Flickr

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The Save the State Protests in Liberia

Save the State Protests

Liberia, or officially the Republic of Liberia, is a small country located on the western coast of Africa. Coming from a rich history of international involvement, the nation holds the title of the first African state to declare independence and, therefore, is the oldest African modern republic. The Save the State protests are currently gripping Liberia.

On June 7, 2019, in the capital city of Monrovia, ongoing tensions and disappointment in the current regime reached a head, resulting in the largest anti-government protest since the end of the civil war in 2003. This was the first of the Save the State protests, which a coalition of politicians, professionals, students and regular citizens called the Council of Patriots organized.

The main goal of the demonstration was to protest high inflation rates and governmental corruption. These two points of frustration have been amplified during the current presidential administration, as these were the two major campaign promises behind the 2018 election of President George Weah. However, these issues merely represent the breaking point of decades-long tensions and it is necessary to understand the socio-economic situation in Liberia which has caused so much unrest, especially as protests continue.

A Damaged Economy

Liberia has continued to feel the effects of two civil wars that took place between 1989 and 2003 and resulted in the death of a quarter of a million people. The wars crippled the Liberian economy by 90 percent and the economy has struggled to fully recover ever since. It suffered another blow with the outbreak of Ebola from 2014 to 2015 that claimed the lives of thousands.

After these crises, foreign aid flowed into the country to help in the restoration of the economy and offer assistance to those struggling in the aftermath. But, as international funding began to dissipate – most recently with the withdrawal of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in 2018 – the country has struggled to develop on its own.

The country continues to rank among the poorest nations in the world, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook. The fact that inflation reached a record high of 28.5 percent in 2018 and an International Monetary Fund growth rate projection of only 0.4 percent in 2019 compounds this.

Disillusioned Voters

The socio-economic situation of sustained, long-term poverty and poor living conditions due to rising prices and financial mismanagement have escalated since the election of President Weah. This is as a result of the lack of changes he made following his campaign promises. His connection to the people of Liberia as a former football star who achieved international acclaim initially spurred people’s excitement for his presidency.

However, hope for improvement has soured as prices continue to rise, fiscal growth continues to slow and the president’s personal wealth appears to be growing. This dissatisfaction brewed alongside a huge scandal where $102 million in new banknotes was allegedly missing. Although no one found evidence to support this claim in an investigation, people cited accuracy and completeness as major issues in the central bank’s records.

As 64 percent of Liberians continue to live below the poverty line and the people have planned more Save the State for the coming months, it is clear that long-term poverty engenders long-term instability and, therefore, a constant state of tension. This kind of unstable environment becomes a powder keg for tensions to erupt, making the future of these peaceful protests uncertain.

Despite President Weah’s opposition to the demands of the protestors thus far, their message remains clear: they want to save their state and improve the lives of their compatriots. It is a prime example of citizens wanting their voices be heard.

– Alexandra Schulman
Photo: Flickr