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Ebola Virus Epidemic Analysis

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During the three-year period between 2013 and 2016, West Africa was plagued by an Ebola virus epidemic that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, on top of damaging the region’s economy to near-crippling levels (World Health Organization 2018). The outbreak began in the areas of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, with the first documented incident occurring in December of 2013 (World Health Organization 2018). The disease was extremely dangerous, with a fatality rate of just under 60% for hospitalized patients, and above 70% in cases where the individual was not hospitalized (World Health Organization 2018). The World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and did not revoke this until March …show more content…
Symptoms are easily dismissed as common symptoms of the flu or other relatively tame conditions: the early symptoms include headaches, fever, sore throat, and body aches (World Health Organization 2018). As the disease progress, a patient may begin experiencing gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea and vomiting, and then organ failure ensues, usually targeting the renal system and liver (World Health Organization 2018). Symptoms worsen as time goes on, and a patient will experience both internal and external bleeding; as expected, the disease is extremely fatal, with a fatality rate of between 25% and 90% depending on the region and how soon a patient his hospitalized, though the average is 50% (World Health Organization 2018). Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, and science has shown that semen and breast milk can carry the virus for several months after recovery; previously infected individuals must undergo testing twice to ensure that they can engage in safe sexual practices without endangering their partner (World Health Organization …show more content…
Drone technology is very advanced now, and drones can be used to travel to hard-to-reach locations to transport potentially life-saving medication and equipment faster than paramedics or other authorities would be able to. Governments and healthcare organizations have already made use of drone technology to head to accident sites and to areas in the aftermath of natural disasters to look for survivors and assist in transporting medical supplies (REFERENCE). Deploying drones to distribute medications will help allocate manpower to the areas that need it most, or provide life-saving help faster than could be provided otherwise. The feed between the drone pilot and the camera can also be used to generate site reports and patient reports, showing the pilot the state of the patient in some cases, allowing the pilot to gauge the severity of the

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