In 2014, West Africa experienced one of the worst catastrophes in modern history. It was not a civil war or natural disaster of a physical sort, but rather, a virus known as Ebola. What started out as a few unconfirmed reports eventually developed into one of the worst epidemics in medical history.
This quickly created fear not only in Africa, but also in the rest of the world. It was thanks to the doctors on the ground and international aid that the virus did not spread farther. The panic surrounding Ebola showed that, when it comes to monitoring and preventing epidemics, the immediate response from the international community leaves much to be desired.
It has been nearly two years since the Ebola outbreak, and although it has been successfully contained, it seems we are making the same mistakes with the Zika virus.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Zika virus is usually found in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
At the end of 2015, reports showed that the virus had made its way to Brazil. Since that time, the virus has spread throughout a considerable portion of South and Central America. This rapid spread is probably due to the vector through which the virus is transferred — mosquitos.
The symptoms of the virus are nothing new, nor are they deadly. Most patients experience fever, rash, joint pain and conjunctivitis. These conditions usually last a few days, but there is a new development that has created a profound cause for concern in the countries already contending with Zika.
The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with unusually small heads.
In Brazil, nearly 4,000 babies have been born with this condition since the outbreak of the virus.
Many experts suggest this is due to pregnant mothers contracting the virus during pregnancy.
This article is not meant to spread fear of a virus that has not yet shown up in the U.S. Rather, it is meant to show not only the inability regional governments possess in dealing with pandemics, but also the inability of the international community as a whole.
The fears of Ebola were only taken seriously when the risk of transmission posed a threat to Europe and the U.S. Until that time, it was reserved mostly for the back pages of newspapers.
The international community spent nearly $4.3 billion to end the outbreak of Ebola in 2014, according to the Save the Children foundation.
The organization also cited that having the proper health care infrastructure to prevent the spread of Ebola in the first place would have only cost about $1.58 billion.
As globalization has made the world smaller, we need to collectively realize that viruses and outbreaks can affect every person on Earth at a frighteningly fast rate, and as such, we should be better prepared.
It is clear that countries such as Brazil, which has had over a million reported cases of Zika, could probably use some assistance from the CDC or the World Health Organization.
El Salvador’s master plan to stop Zika is to ask its citizens to stop having children for two years.
This plan is impossible to enforce and impossible to achieve, and it will not only fail to stop the virus, but it will also produce severe consequences for the country’s future.
The first step to solving a problem is understanding it. The U.S. and other countries prone to the Zika virus need to educate their respective citizenry and put measures into place in order to prevent infections before they start.
At the same time, countries that are already afflicted need to be given assistance in mitigating the crisis at hand.
Kevin Foster is a UF political science senior. His column appears on Thursdays.
