Ebola Will Stop the Same Way That It Started, Slowly - Factpod #15

The character of an Ebola outbreak is that it will start slowly, and it will end slowly.

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Max Orward

The Gapminder Foundation
http://www.gapminder.org

I am professor Hans Rosling. This shows the Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

The number of newly infected patients per day.

It started in March with very few cases.

And it increased very slowly until in July and in August,

that's when the catastrophic increase occured and the epidemic went up like this.

There were 60 cases per day or more! There were dead people in the streets of the capital.

And the world health organization projected that IF actions are not taken it will continue like this.

But the actions were taken!

The government, media, the religious leaders, non governmental organizations informed the population about the risk.

The national health service, doctors and nurses, and international support provided isolation and treatment for the patients.

And the red cross and other organizations provided safe burial and this is what happened:

It fell down very rapidly until the end of the year and then slower and slower and slower, but steadily down.

And this is the character of an ebola outbreak: it starts slowly and it will end slowly.

Because now every single case needs to be identified and every contact followed so that the virus cannot find its way to new human beings.

In Liberia, it may end within a month or two because now its just one case every third day.

The neighboring countries: Guinea and Sierra Leone are following but they are somewhat behind and it will take several more months for them to reach zero.

And the only safe level is zero cases in all the three countries.

And resources must be maintained until the day that has been achieved.