the 2014 outbreak of ebola: understanding disease and disaster risk and risk reduction

EBOLA VIRUS OUTBREAKS:

UNDERSTANDING RISK AND RISK

REDUCTION USING NATURAL

HAZARD PARADIGMS

APPLYING WHAT WE KNOW INNOVATIVELY

AND STRATEGICALLY TO ACHIEVE

SOCIETAL SUSTAINABILITY

A FRAMEWORK FOR LIVING WITH THE

INSTABILITIES CAUSED BY DEADLY

DISEASE OUTBREAKS SUCH AS EBOLA AND

PANDEMICS, ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMES,

AND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

The First Cases of Ebola emerged in

Guinea in March of this year and has

since spread to Sierra Leone

THE VISION IS SUSTAINABLE URBAN

DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY OF LIFE

IN EVERY COMMUNITY IN ALL PARTS

OF THE WORLD

EDUCATION AND ACTIVE LEARNING

UNDER-

STAND

IDENT-

IFY

HEAR

PERSON-

ALIZEACT

PERIOD OF

INTEGRATION

WINDOW OF

OPPORTUNITYPERIOD OF

IMPLEMENTATION

Belgian Doctors in Zaire, 1976

Dr Peter Piot’s notes describing the

characteristics of Ebola in 1976

have been invaluable in the response

to subsequent outbreaks

EDUCATION

GOAL:

SOCIETAL

SUSTANABILITY

ACADEMIA

FUNCTIONAL

NETWORKING

CHANNELS

INFORMATION

NETWORKING

CHANNELSORGANIZATION

NETWORKING

CHANNELS

INNOVATION

COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS

Stratec Consulting

YOUR

COMMUNITYDATA BASES

AND INFORMATION

HAZARDS:GROUND SHAKING

GROUND FAILURE

SURFACE FAULTING

TECTONIC DEFORMATION

TSUNAMI RUN UP

AFTERSHOCKS

•HAZARD MAPS

•INVENTORY

•VULNERABILITY

•LOCATION

RISK ASSESSMENT

RISK

ACCEPTABLE RISK

UNACCEPTABLE RISK

RISK REDUCTION

•PREVENTION-MITIGATION

•PREPAREDNESS

•EMERGENCY RESPONSE

•RECOVERY

•ADAPTATION

POLICY OPTIONS

EVERY COMMUNITY IS AT RISK

AND HAS AN URGENT NEED

FOR PUBLIC POLICIES AND

STRATEGIC PLANS TO

MONITOR, PREVENT, MITIGATE,

AND PREPARE FOR THE

INEVITABLE

ALL PUBLIC POLICIES SHOULD BE

BASED ON AN UNDERSTANDING OF

WHAT CAN HAPPEN AND AN

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN TO KEEP IT

FROM HAPPENING AND CAUSING A

DISASTER OR CATASTROPHIC

DISEASE OUTBREAK

DISEASE OUTBREAKS LIKE

NATURAL DISASTERS IMPACT ALL

ELEMENTS OF SOCIETY

INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF

SOCIETAL SUSTAINABILITY

GOAL: TO FIND THE COMMON AGENDA

(CA) OF TECHNICAL

AND POLITICAL SOLUTIONS

TECHNICAL

SOLUTIONS POLITICAL

SOLUTIONSCA

OUR WORLD IS AT RISK FROM

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

WATER-BORNE

DISEASES

AIR-BORNE

DISEASES

PEOPLE-BORNE

DISEASES

VIRUSES,

BACTERIA,

TOXINS

SURPRISE!

THE EBOLA VIRUS IS ONE OF THE

INFECTIOUS DISEASES THAT THE

WORLD IS NOW URGENTLY

CONCERNED ABOUT (AGAIN)

AT PRESENT, NO KNOWN

CURE EXISTS

ELECTRON MICROGRAPH OFTHE

EBOLA-ZAIRE VIRUS

SYMPTOMS

ELEMENTS OF EPIDEMIOLOGIC RISK

EXPOSURE

VULNERABILITY LOCATION

RISK

AFRICA: NATURAL HAZARDS,

PLAGUES AND POLITICS

POLITICAL

INSTABILITY

FLOODS

DROUGHTS

ENVIRONMENTAL

THREATS TO AIR,

WATER, AND SOIL

ENDANGERED

SPECIES

POOR HEALTH

The First Cases of Ebola emerged in

Guinea in March of this year and has

since spread to Sierra Leone and

Liberia, with a suspected cluster in

densely populated Nigeria.

THE SPREAD OF EBOLA

HISTORY OF EBOLA

OUTBREAKS 1976-2014

Zaire Outbreak, 1976

The current Ebola outbreak

is the largest and longest ever

recorded for the disease, which

has a death rate of about 50

percent and has so far killed at

least 961 people, according to

the World Health Organization.

Scientists say the disease can

only be spread through direct

contact with bodily fluids.

VULNERABILITIES

The virus is spread by contact

with a stricken person’s fluids:

blood, sweat, tears, and

diarrhea.

FIGHTING EBOLA

THE PRINCIPLES WE

EMPLOY IN FIGHTING

NATURAL HAZARDS CAN

ALSO BE APPLIED TO

OUTBREAKS AND

EPIDEMICS

STRATEGIES TO HALT THE SPREAD OF EBOLA

ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME FOR DISASTER

RISK REDUCTION

MONITOR (REAL-TIME

KNOWEDGE OF WHAT

IS HAPPENING IN

SPACE AND TIME)

PREVENTION

(CONTROL THE

SOURCE)

House to house disease surveys or monitoring

is essential for detection of the earliest cases in

and to answer to effective prevention measures

before a disease outbreak gets out of control

THERE IS A COMMON AGENDA FOR SOCIETAL

SUSTAINABILITY WHETHER PREPARING FOR

EPIDEMICS OR EARTHQUAKES

MITIGATION

(REDUCE

SOCIETAL

IMPACTS)

PREPAREDNESS

(BE READY FOR

THE INEVITABLE

AND THE UN-

THINKABLE)

THE SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE TO A DEADLY EPIDEMIC

AND A CATASTROPHIC NATURAL DISASTER BOTH

DEPEND ON COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, EDUCATION,

AND AWARENESS OF THE THREAT

THE PRINCIPLES OF STRENGTHENING

COMMUNITY RESILIENCE ARE THE SAME

FOR NATURAL DISASTERS AS THEY ARE

FOR EPIDEMICS OF COMMUNICABLE

DISEASE