Biological hazards

Epidemics and insect infestations account for 36 per cent of all disasters in Africa (UNISDR, 2004).

In recent decades the damaging effects of such plagues have become increasingly severe, due to the steady and continuous increase in population.

The current Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa must be added to the list of epidemics to which Africa is vulnerable.

Epidemics: According to World Bank reports, mosquito-borne diseases are the leading killer of African children. Epidemic malaria in the high-lands of eastern Africa is closely associated with climatic hazards such as the El Niño

phenom-enon. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were over 24,000  cases of cholera in West Africa in 2005 (as reported by Derek Quinn, Radio Canada International, 29 August 2005).

Chikungunya and dengue fever are associated with environmental phenomena such as flooding and drought. In the East African Rift, landslides can cause outbreaks of Rift Valley fever by releasing a soil fungus into the air where it may be inhaled.

Ebola virus disease (also known as Ebola haemor-rhagic fever or Ebola): This is a disease of humans and other primates caused by Ebola viruses. Ebola virus disease is considered to be one of the world’s most deadly diseases. It is a highly infectious virus

that can kill up to 90 percent of the people who catch it and is so infectious that patients need to be treated in isolation by staff wearing protective clothing (Médecins Sans Frontières, 2014).

The spread of Ebola virus disease involves direct contact with an infected wild animal, such as fruit bats. Besides bats, other wild animals sometimes infected with Ebola virus disease include several monkey species, chimpanzees, gorillas, baboons and duikers (Médecins Sans Frontières, 2014). The virus spreads by direct contact with blood or other body fluids of an infected human or other animal.

Table 6 presents a chronology of Ebola virus dis-ease outbreaks. Ebola virus disdis-ease was first iden-Table 6: Timeline of previous Ebola virus disease outbreaks

Year Country Ebola virus species Cases Deaths Case fatality

2012 Democratic Republic of the Congo Bundibugyo 57 29 51%

2012 Uganda Sudan 7 4 57%

2012 Uganda Sudan 24 17 71%

2011 Uganda Sudan 1 1 100%

2008 Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire 32 14 44%

2007 Uganda Bundibugyo 149 37 25%

2007 Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire 264 187 71%

2005 Congo Zaire 12 10 83%

2004 Sudan Sudan 17 7 41%

2003 (Nov-Dec) Congo Zaire 35 29 83%

2003 (Jan-Apr) Congo Zaire 143 128 90%

2001-2002 Congo Zaire 59 44 75%

2001-2002 Gabon Zaire 65 53 82%

2000 Uganda Sudan 425 224 53%

1996 South Africa (ex-Gabon) Zaire 1 1 100%

1996 (Jul-Dec) Gabon Zaire 60 45 75%

1996 (Jan-Apr) Gabon Zaire 31 21 68%

1995 Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire 315 254 81%

1994 Côte d’Ivoire Taï Forest 1 0 0%

1994 Gabon Zaire 52 31 60%

1979 Sudan Sudan 34 22 65%

1977 Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire 1 1 100%

1976 Sudan Sudan 284 151 53%

1976 Democratic Republic of the Congo Zaire 318 280 88%

Source: WHO, 2014.

tified in 1976 in an area of Sudan (now part of South Sudan), and in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The disease typically oc-curs in outbreaks in tropical regions of sub-Saha-ran Africa. Throughout 2013, WHO reported a total of 1,716 cases in 24 outbreaks.

The current outbreak, the largest outbreak to date and one that is ongoing, appeared in March 2014 in Guinea and spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia where, according to WHO, as of December 3 2014, there have been 6,070 deaths, out of 17,145 cas-es reported up to 30  November 2014 (Reuters).

Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone account for all but 15 of the deaths in the world’s worst Ebola virus disease outbreak. Several cases where re-ported in Nigeria and Senegal, while cases were also reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, independent of the West African epidem-ic. However, by end of the October these coun-tries were declared Ebola-free (Médecins Sans Frontières, 2014). Mali confirmed its first case on 23 October 2014, and the international

commu-nity is monitoring the situation in the country closely.

On 29 September 2014, a case of Marburg fever, considered a cousin virus of Ebola virus disease was declared in Uganda, with one death reported, but seems to have been managed quickly.

The spread of the Ebola virus disease epidemic has been attributed to the high vulnerability of the populations due to poverty and the weak state of the health systems in these countries. The epi-demic affected the countries at many levels, with impacts on governance, health systems, educa-tion, agriculture, food security and the economy.

It is expected to have a significant impact on the economy.

Pest infestations: Pests such as locusts, grain-eating birds and African armyworm cause great agricultural losses, contributing to poverty and famine. The large grain borer, Prostephanus trun-cates, has spread through sub-Saharan Africa and

Box 4: Projected impact of Ebola virus disease on development

In October 2014, the World Bank reported that the two-year regional financial impact could range from a “low Ebola” estimate of $3.8 billion to a “high Ebola” estimate of $32.6 billion by the end of 2015. “These estimates of the scale of impact remain valid, given that the epidemic is not yet under control,” the World Bank press release said.

Meanwhile, according to the Update on the Economic Impact of the 2014 Ebola Epidemic on Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea released by the World Bank Group, the epidemic continues to cripple the economies of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, and is projected to result in negative or contracting growth in these countries next year.

According to the report, growth estimates for 2014 in the three affected countries have been revised sharply downward. With second-round effects and investor aversion, the economies of Sierra Leone and Guinea are expected to shrink in 2015, and Liberia is expected to grow at less than half the pace anticipated before the crisis.

The report also stated that: “The total fiscal impact of the crisis is well over half a billion dollars in 2014 alone,” .and that “All three countries had been growing rapidly in recent years, and into the first half of 2014. But (World Bank, 2014) projected 2014 growth in Liberia is now 2.2 per cent (versus 5.9 per cent before the crisis and 2.5 per cent in October). Projected 2014 growth in Sierra Leone is now 4.0 per cent (versus 11.3 per cent before the crisis and 8.0 per cent in October). Projected 2014 growth in Guinea is now 0.5 percent (versus 4.5 per cent before the crisis and 2.4 per cent in October).”

This report, which updates the World Bank Group’s analysis dated 8 October 2014 of the economic effects of the crisis on the three hardest-hit countries, was issued as World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim began a visit to West Africa to assess the epidemic’s impact and discuss what steps needed to be taken to reach the goal of zero cases as soon as possible.

According to WHO, “If this Ebola outbreak does not trigger substantial investments in health systems and adequate reforms in the worst-affected countries, pre-existing deficiencies in health systems will be exacerbated (WHO, 2014) “For the foreseeable future, however, the negative economic impact on the affected countries means that substantial external financing will be needed to build stronger national and subnational health systems.”

is causing value and weight losses in stored maize approaching 60 per cent. About 10 million km2of Africa is affected by animal trypanosomiasis (na-gana), spread by tsetse flies (Glossina spp.), which seriously limits farming activities.