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Neoliberal Ebola: the Agroeconomic Origins of the Ebola Outbreak
Neoliberal Ebola: the Agroeconomic Origins of the Ebola Outbreak
The notion of a neoliberal Ebola is so beyond the pale as to send leading lights in ecology and health into apoplectic fits.
Here’s one of bestseller David Quammen’s five tweets denouncing my hypothesis that neoliberalism drove the emergence of Ebola in West Africa. I’m an “addled guy” whose “loopy [blog] post” and “confused nonsense” Quammen hopes “doesn’t mislead credulous people.”
Scientific American’s Steve Mirksy joked that he feared “the supply-side salmonella”. He would walk that back when I pointed out the largeliterature documenting the ways and means by which the economics of the egg sector is driving salmonella’s evolution.
The facts of the Ebola outbreak similarly turn Quammen’s objection on its head.
The virus appears to have been spilling over for years in West Africa. Epidemiologist Joseph Fair’s group found antibodies to multiple species of Ebola, including the very Zaire strain that set off the outbreak, in patients in Sierra Leone as far back as five years ago. Phylogenetic analyses meanwhile show the Zaire strain Bayesian-dated in West Africa as far back as a decade.
An NIAID team showed the outbreak strain as possessing no molecular anomaly, with nucleotide substitution rates typical of Ebola outbreaks across Africa.
That result begs an explanation for Ebola’s ecotypic shift from intermittent forest killer to a protopandemic infection infecting 27,000 and killing over 11,000 across the region, leaving bodies in the streets of capital cities Monrovia and Conakry.
Explaining the Rise of Ebola
The answer, little explored in the scientific literature or the media, appears in the broader context in which Ebola emerged in West Africa.
The truth of the whole, in this case connecting disease dynamics, land use and global economics, routinely suffers at the expense of the principle of expediency. Such contextualization often represents athreat to many of the underlying premises of power.
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Nearly Halted in Sierra Leone, Ebola Makes Comeback by Sea
Nearly Halted in Sierra Leone, Ebola Makes Comeback by Sea
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — It seemed as if the Ebola crisis was abating.
New cases were plummeting. The president lifted travel restrictions, and schools were to reopen. A local politician announced on the radio that two 21-day incubation cycles had passed with no new infections in his Freetown neighborhood. The country, many health officials said, was “on the road to zero.”
Then Ebola washed in from the sea.
Sick fishermen came ashore in early February to the packed wharf-side slums that surround the country’s fanciest hotels, which were filled with public health workers. Volunteers fanned out to contain the outbreak, but the virus jumped quarantine lines and cascaded into the countryside, bringing dozens of new infections and deaths.
“We worked so hard,” said Emmanuel Conteh, an Ebola response coordinator in a rural district. “It is a shame to all of us.”
Public health experts preparing for an international conference on Ebola on Tuesday seem to have no doubt that the disease can be vanquished in the West African countries ravaged by it in the last year. But the steep downward trajectory of new cases late last year and into January did not lead to the end of the epidemic.
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RT trails Ebola’s path of devastation in Liberia
RT trails Ebola’s path of devastation in Liberia
Behind the stark headlines of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed thousands of people in Western Africa, are endless tales of hope and courage as average people do what they can to help others.
On March 31, 2014, the West African country of Liberia confirmed its first two cases of Ebola. One month later, six people had already succumbed to the deadly disease and dozens more were infected. Some of the fatalities included unsuspecting doctors, who initially thought their patients were suffering from malaria.
READ MORE: Charity reviews Ebola safety procedures, UK nurse in ‘critical condition’
RT met with members of the Liberian Red Cross, many of them volunteers with little or no previous medical experience who, nevertheless, want to do what they can to help their country in this time of emergency.
alvin, for example, is an artist who used to decorate the tombstones of Ebola victims before the government started cremating the bodies out of safety concerns. As he and several other Red Cross volunteers prepare to remove a body of an Ebola victim from a street in Monrovia, the Liberian capital, Malvin explains that his work is for the living not the dead.
He tells relatives and friends of the Ebola victims, “If you keep the body of a [Ebola victim] in your house for 2, 3, 4 days, even the community will get concerned. So we talk to them and calm them down so we can remove the body.”
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Ebola crisis: Experts warn against complacency in fight to contain worst outbreak in history – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
It has been one of the biggest stories of 2014 and it does not look like it is going anywhere.
The Ebola crisis in West Africa has killed thousands of people and it will continue to do so in 2015.
Given the Ebola story has been a constant on the news for the best part of a year, some of the interest has gone. But ignoring the disease is fraught with danger.
On a US talk show recently, White House Ebola response coordinator Ron Klain warned the world against complacency.
“I think we’re nearing a pivot point in this, where the number of new cases overall in West Africa has somewhat stabilized,” he said.
“But this won’t be done until we get all the way to zero. It’s like a forest fire: a few embers burning, and the thing can reignite at any time.”
UN predicts end of Ebola outbreak in 2015
UN predicts end of Ebola outbreak in 2015
The outgoing chief of the United Nations’ anti-Ebola mission has voiced hope that global efforts would put an end to the outbreak of the deadly virus in West Africa by the end of 2015, but said that months of tough work remain.
Anthony Banbury told reporters on Friday that 2015 could see the eradication of the epidemic that has struck six West African nations, with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia bearing the brunt of the 20,000 infections and nearly 8,000 deaths.
Faced with criticism the world was not doing enough, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon set up the UN Ebola Emergency Response (UNMEER) mission in September to coordinate global efforts against the outbreak, first identified in Guinea’s remote southeast in early 2014.
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BBC News – First Ebola boy likely infected by playing with bats
BBC News – First Ebola boy likely infected by playing with bats.
The Ebola victim who is believed to have triggered the current outbreak – a two-year-old boy called Emile Ouamouno from Guinea – may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of bats, say scientists.
They made the connection on an expedition to the boy’s village, Meliandou.
They took samples and chatted to locals to find out more about Ebola’s source.
The team’s findings are published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.
Ebola trail
Meliandou is a small village of 31 houses.
It sits deep within the Guinean forest region, surrounded by towering reeds and oil palm cultivations – these are believed to have attracted the fruit bats carrying the virus passed on to Emile.
During their four-week field trip in April 2014, Dr Fabian Leendertz and colleagues found a large tree stump situated about 50m from Emile’s home.
Villagers reported that children used to play frequently in the hollow tree.
Emile – who died of Ebola in December 2013 – used to play there, according to his friends.
UN says Ebola-hit nations at risk of hunger – Africa – Al Jazeera English
UN says Ebola-hit nations at risk of hunger – Africa – Al Jazeera English.
Up to one million people are at risk of going hungry in West African nations battling the Ebola virus due to border closures, quarantines and crop losses, UN food agencies have said.
The deadly haemorrhagic fever that has killed 6,800 people has severely disrupted daily life in the worst-hit nations of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. Guinea and Sierra Leone have gone so far as to ban Christmas celebrations.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Food Programme said on Wednesday the disease and the resulting restrictions had “caused a significant shock to the food and agriculture sectors in the affected countries”.
“The loss of productivity and household income due to Ebola-related deaths and illness as well as people staying away from work, for fear of contagion, is compounding an economic slowdown in the three countries,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
Restrictions put in place to curb the disease were also “seriously hindering people’s access to food, threatening their livelihoods, disrupting food markets and processing chains, and exacerbating shortages stemming from crop losses”.
BBC News – Ebola outbreak: Virus still ‘running ahead of us’, says WHO
BBC News – Ebola outbreak: Virus still ‘running ahead of us’, says WHO.
The Ebola virus that has killed thousands in West Africa is still “running ahead” of efforts to contain it, the head of the World Health Organization has said.
Director general Margaret Chan said the situation had improved in some parts of the worst-affected countries, but she warned against complacency.
The risk to the world “is always there” while the outbreak continues, she said.
She said the WHO and the international community failed to act quickly enough.
The death toll in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone stands at 6,331. More than 17,800 people have been infected, according to the WHO.
“In Liberia we are beginning to see some good progress, especially in Lofa county [close to where the outbreak first started] and the capital,” said Dr Chan.
Cases in Guinea and Sierra Leone were “less severe” than a couple of months ago, but she said “we are still seeing large numbers of cases”.
‘Hunting the virus’
Dr Chan said: “It’s not as bad as it was in September. But going forward we are now hunting the virus, chasing after the virus. Hopefully we can bring [the number of cases] down to zero.”
The official figures do not show the entire picture of the outbreak. In August, the WHO said the numbers were “vastly under-estimated”, due to people not reporting illnesses and deaths from Ebola.
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Pandemic Implications | Zero Hedge
Pandemic Implications | Zero Hedge.
The recent spread of Ebola has led to a tragic loss of human lives and stands to devastate West African economies. As the situation has evolved, and despite the equity market’s apparent belief that it’s all over, Goldman has examined the global economic and market implications of the outbreak.
It would appear Ebola is a thing of the past…
But implications remain as Goldman Sachs explains,
We survey our economists and equity analysts to provide a sector-by-sector breakdown of the disease’s impacts to date and, drawing on past episodes of pandemic threats, its potential effects. We find that the economic costs of pandemics can be severe, but that the hit to growth is usually mostly limited to the region where the disease is centered.
The economic outcomes of a pandemic are often largely determined by an outbreak’s secondary effects, such as the “fear factor” and policy responses. History suggests that most impacts on stocks are typically short-lived and driven more by sentiment than by tangible effects on business activity, although this may not be the case in the mining sector.
Still, Ebola is not expected to alter the global demand and supply balance in most exposed commodities, with the possible – but still unlikely – exception of cocoa.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Asia ‘not doing enough’ to fight Ebola – Asia-Pacific – Al Jazeera English
Asia ‘not doing enough’ to fight Ebola – Asia-Pacific – Al Jazeera English.
Asian countries are not contributing enough to the global effort to fight Ebola, despite having a wealth of trained medical personnel who could help stop the spread of the deadly virus, World Bank Group president, Jim Yong Kim, said.
Addressing a news conference in South Korea’s capital Seoul on Tuesday, Kim called on leaders across Asia to send trained health professionals to the three West African countries hardest hit by the epidemic.
“Many countries in Asia who could help simply are not [helping], especially when it comes to sending health workers,” Kim told the news conference.
Thousands of healthcare workers are needed to help combat the deadliest outbreak of Ebola since records began in 1976.
The virus has killed nearly 5,000 people, mainly in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Thousands protest Burkina Faso army’s power grab | Reuters
Thousands protest Burkina Faso army’s power grab | Reuters.
(Reuters) – Thousands gathered on Sunday in the center of Burkina Faso’s capital to denounce what they called a military coup, two days after mass protests forced President Blaise Compaore to resign.
Compaore’s 27 years in charge of the landlocked West African country ended on Friday when his bid to change the constitution to extend his rule was thwarted.
A power struggle ensued and on Saturday Presidential Guard commander Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Zida was appointed as transitional leader, superseding an earlier claim by the army chief of staff.
In Ouagadougou’s Place de La Nation on Sunday, opposition leaders denounced the power grab to the assembled crowds, while a U.N. official warned of possible sanctions if Zida obstructed a return to civilian rule.
The central square was the site of the violent demonstrations against Compaore, in which three people were killed and the parliament set ablaze.
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Army officer takes charge in Burkina Faso, ousting general | Reuters
Army officer takes charge in Burkina Faso, ousting general | Reuters.
(Reuters) – An officer in Burkina Faso’s presidential guard seized power on Saturday promising to lead the West African country to elections after the resignation of longtime President Blaise Compaore, in an apparent putsch against the military chief of staff.
Compaore stepped down on Friday after two days of mass protests against his attempts to change the constitution to extend his 27-year rule. At least three people were killed after protesters stormed the parliament building and set it on fire.
Army chief of staff General Honore Traore, a Compaore loyalist, had quickly announced on Friday he would take over the presidency on a transitional basis, but this was rejected by the demonstrators and a number of junior officers.
After reports of heavy gunfire near the presidential palace early on Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Issaac Zida, the operational commander of the elite presidential guard, announced on radio that he was taking power.
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Ebola Travel Ban Now!
Is Barack Obama completely insane? By not instituting an immediate ban on all non-essential travel between the United States and West Africa, he is putting the lives of more than 300 million Americans at risk. Anyone with a shred of common sense knows that you keep more people from getting sick by keeping the sick people away from the healthy people. Because the Ebola outbreaks in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone are raging out of control, it is extremely difficult to tell who is carrying Ebola and who is not carrying Ebola. Therefore we need to keep everyone from those countries away until those outbreaks subside. If Barack Obama had established an Ebola travel ban a month or two ago like he should have done, Thomas Eric Duncan would never have entered the United States, and we would not have two Texas nurses infected with the virus. But because Barack Obama did not do his job, now we have a new Ebola scare popping up somewhere in the country almost hourly. If this outbreak eventually evolves into a full-blown pandemic, we will know who to blame.
Will an Ebola travel ban work?
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