THE CHOCOLATE FACTOR

You know that Ebola is a serious health threat, but it also poses economic threats beyond the cost of health‑care and military expenses. The economies of some countries in West Africa have come to a standstill due to Ebola. A huge industry that affects the average American is also being hurt by restrictions tied to areas deeply affected by Ebola: The chocolate industry. According to a recent article on www.Politico.com:

The countries with the worst Ebola outbreaks neighbor three countries that produce almost 60 percent of the world’s chocolate production. “Prices on cocoa futures jumped from their normal trading range of $2,000 to $2,700 per ton, to as high as $3,400 over concerns about the spread of Ebola to Côte D’Ivoire (French for Ivory Coast),” noted Jack Scoville, an analyst and vice president at the Chicago‑based Price Futures Group. “Since then, prices have yo‑yoed down to $3,030 and then back to $3,155 in the past couple of weeks.”

The Ivory Coast, a small nation that borders both Liberia and Guinea, produces more than 33 percent of the world’s total cocoa beans. As a result of the epidemic, it has closed its borders. A large portion of the work force needed to harvest the cocoa beans (that eventually become chocolate) come from the neighboring countries. This will likely mean an increase in the cost of cocoa beans, and therefore, a spike in the cost of chocolate. From the same article, “The World Cocoa Foundation is working now to collect large donations from Nestlé, Mars, and 113 other members for its Cocoa Industry Response to Ebola Initiative.” The Ebola epidemic, even in far‑away West Africa, affects us all in many ways.

NOW YOU KNOW…

So now you know the various ways that you can get Ebola, and how you can’t. It isn’t the easiest virus to get but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible either. All it takes is our continued failure to take the measures necessary to protect our health‑care workers and our failure to restrict travel from the epidemic zone. Now, would you recognize an Ebola victim if you saw one? Keep reading to learn how.

3. Signs & Symptoms

In all that we’ve learned in the past decades about Ebola, one of the most effective ways to ensure survival is to treat the disease immediately. When symptoms arise, it’s important to keep in the back of one’s mind that what might seem like a simple bout of the flu could very well turn out to be Ebola. Once the later symptoms of the disease begin to present themselves, it is almost always too late.

In this chapter, we’ll break down the signs and symptoms that very well could indicate an Ebola infection. Don't be dismissive if you begin to show any of these symptoms. It is probably something else, maybe the flu, but those who seek help early for either the flu or Ebola will be in better shape than those who don’t.

NANCY’S “MALARIA”

Nancy Writebol was working with the missionary group Serving In Mission (SIM), an international organization with more than 1,600 active missionaries serving in more than sixty countries. Her job was to ensure that doctors working with Ebola patients were suited up properly in their personal protective gear. The tragic irony here is that she herself had not been properly protected. Ms. Writebol contracted Ebola and had to eventually be evacuated from Liberia. At first, however, it wasn’t clear that she had contracted Ebola, despite the nature of the service she was performing. Even people working deep in the trenches of the epicenter of the outbreak often believe that their symptoms are not caused by Ebola. In all fairness, malaria is much more common than Ebola, and kills many more people. It is common that most people with symptoms of Ebola just assumed it was an episode of the ubiquitous mosquito‑borne illness.

In any case, Ms. Writebol did not think she had Ebola. True, she wasn’t feeling well and she had a fever, but she assumed it was malaria. “I had had malaria once in this past year, and so I knew what that felt like. And it was just the same symptoms,” said Writebol.

If you tell a health‑care provider that you’ve traveled from Africa and you’re exhibiting a fever, that provider might easily be led to believe that you suffer from malaria. Indeed, the majority of suspected Ebola cases in the United States turn out to be malaria or some other illness.

Everyone, including Nancy, assumed that malaria was what ailed her, and could have very well treated her with quinine, but thankfully, they were vigilant. They decided to cover their bases, and they tested her for Ebola, even though she had previously been diagnosed with malaria. This high index of suspicion saved her life.

Ms. Writebol was immediately isolated and given ZMapp, an experimental Ebola drug that had, at that point, only been tested on monkeys. She was then evacuated for treatment in the United States. It was because of the swift diagnosis and treatment that she recovered.

While Ebola vaccines are still in human trials, experimental treatments like ZMapp have been showing favorable results. When you ignore the signs and symptoms of Ebola, you put not only yourself but everyone you come in contact with at high risk.

TIP

After a period of 2–21 days (average 8–10) without symptoms, the Ebola patient begins to show signs of the disease.

WHAT YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR…

After a period of 2–21 days (average 8–10) without symptoms, the Ebola patient begins to show signs of the disease. The signs and symptoms of Ebola can be divided into early, middle, and late stages.