EBOLA EPIDEMICS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA

¹Esuga Folusho, Orebiyi, ²Taiwo Philip and ³Solomon, Funke

¹International Relation and Diplomacy Programme, Salem University, Lokoja

²Department of Political Science and International Relations

Southwestern University, Okun -Owa,

³International Relation and Diplomacy Programme, Salem University, Lokoja

ABSTRACT

From the earliest times to the present, epidemics have affected human history in myriad ways: demographically, culturally, politically, economically and biologically. Thus, humans have never known a time in history when epidemics did not loom large; this is as true today as it ever was   Meanwhile, the recent epidemic which hit West Africa as a whole is The Ebola epidemic, which began in Guinea in late 2013 and then spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone over the first six months of 2014, is by far the largest in history. The outbreak of the 2014 Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa has taken a devastating human toll. Although the outbreak originated in rural Guinea, it has hit hardest in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in part because it has reached urban areas in these two countries—a factor that distinguishes this outbreak from previous episodes elsewhere. It is against this background that the study examined   Impact of Ebola Epidemics on Economic Activities in Sierra Leone and Liberia