Ebola Outbreak Research Paper

Ebola Outbreak

The recent Ebola Outbreak in Africa, killing over nine thousand people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, has clearly illustrated new vulnerabilities in the spread of transmittable diseases. Ten people were treated for the Ebola virus in the United States and the disease was shown to be highly mobile. The U.S. government has responded to the crisis in a number of ways including training for U.S. hospital workers, a deployment of military and healthcare workers in West Africa, and money to research different treatments and vaccines to help prevent further outbreaks. This analysis will provide an overview of the Ebola outbreak and the Public Administration response by the U.S. government.

West African Ebola Outbreak

The 2014 Ebola epidemic was the largest in history and affected and directly many West African countries and indirectly affected the entire planet. Two imported cases, including one death, and two locally acquired cases in healthcare workers were reported in the United States and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the U.S. Government had to coordinate their activities to respond to the domestic preparations (CDC, 2015).

Figure 1 - Affected Areas (CDC, 2015)

Since the disease is known to be highly mobile, the United States partnered with its allies and set up a command center close to the affected areas. On Sept. 16 President Barack Obama directed U.S. Africa Command to establish a Joint Force Command Headquarters in the Liberian capital of Monrovia to support U.S. military activities and help coordinate expanded U.S. And international relief efforts to fight Ebola in West Africa (DOD, 2014). The workers that were deployed received the highest level of training and the best protective equipment available.

US Domestic Ebola Response

The threats and risks associated with Ebola were not contained to the African continent. There were at least 24 cases of Ebola that have been treated in Europe and the United States and many were health and aid workers who contracted Ebola in West Africa and were transported back to their home countries for treatment (The New York Times, 2015). If the disease gets a foothold in any population it can be spread quickly and new outbreaks can occur.

One response from the U.S. government was to screen people returning from Africa countries at the airport. About 7,700 people returning from Ebola-afflicted countries were screened at U.S. airports and were required to…