Impact of globalisation on health

Running head: IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON HEALTH
Impact of globalisation on health
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IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON HEALTH
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Source and transmission of Ebola..............................................................................................2
Comparison of Ebola with other conditions which do have vaccines.......................................4
Public health management and prevention of Ebola..................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................9

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IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON HEALTH
Introduction
The current assignment focuses on globalization and its impact upon the health of
people. Globalization has resulted in effective collaboration between countries. The
collaboration has often been established in terms of exchange of services and products.
Additionally, there has been exchange of human labour between different countries as a result
of globalization. The free pass between countries is also a gateway to a huge number of
pathogens and viruses. Some of these viruses could be life threatening and lead to lethal
consequences. The assignment particularly discusses the transmission and the impact of the
Ebola virus.
The epidemic of the Ebola virus in the year 2014-2015 raised global concerns. It soon
became pandemic and had lethal consequences claiming a huge number of lives. The
outbreak of the Zaire ebolavirus (EBOV) began in guinea by the end of 2013. The disease
soon spread to the neighbouring regions of Liberia and Sierra Leone. By April 2016, there
have been 28,652 cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa alone. Of these almost
40% of the case were found to be fatal (Gee & Skovdal, 2018).
Source and transmission of Ebola
The Ebola virus disease (EVD) is caused by Ebola virus which is a member of the
filovirus family and occurs in humans and other primates. The disease first occurred in the
year 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sudan. There are five species of
the ebola virus such as – Zaire ebolavirus, Sudan ebolavirus, Tia forest (also formerly known
as ebola ivory coast) and Bundibugyo ebolavirus, the fifth one is the Reston ebolavirus. The
investigations caused the first outbreak to be caused by RESTV in one export facility in the
Philippines. Though there were no clear indications regarding the manner in which the

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IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION ON HEALTH
facility got contaminated. There have been several outbreaks of Ebola in Africa in between
1976 and 2014. Some of these were primarily restricted to the remote areas, whereas most
confined cases were reported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2014, 74% of
the EVD outbreaks were caused by the Zaire ebolavirus (Nyarko, Goldfrank, Ogedegbe,
Soghoian & Aikins, 2015). The transmission was found to occur on contact with blood and
body fluids such as semen, sputum etc. The Ebola was first reported in individuals who
handled infected gorillas, chimpanzees and the first antelope in the republic of Congo (Evans,
Goldstein & Popova, 2015). The first case in West Africa likely occurred due to exposure to
bats. The infection was carried forward with direct contact with body fluids of infected
individuals or through contaminated or soiled articles. As reported by McDermott (2016),
acquisition of the disease on sexual contact with a survivor has also been reported. It has been
seen that the virus remains in the semen of the infected individual even months after
recovery. The hospital workers have severely contacted the Ebola virus on contact with
infected individuals. As mentioned by Evans, Goldstein & Popova (2015), lack of timely
detection of the disease contraction in the healthcare professionals further enhanced the
spread of the disease.
The incubation period of the Ebola virus ranges from 2-21 days. The illness is
suddenly expressed with the onset of fever, headache, joint and muscle pain, intense
weakness etc. The situation could worsen within the patients in the form of expression such
as rash, red eyes, hiccups, impaired function of the liver and kidney along with internal and
external haemorrhage. Ebola can lead to fatal consequences in 40-90% of the cases. As
mentioned by McInnes (2016), diagnosis of Ebola in the early stages is difficult as there are
little or no symptoms. The exposure to Ebola has been seen to double in the lack of
healthcare professionals using effective personal protective equipments (Bradbury-Jones &
Clark, 2017). Additionally, the lack of vaccines has made the treatment of Ebola difficult.