Death toll isn't the only toll: Ebola outbreak will cause untold economic damage

A new report from the World Bank has revealed that the West African Ebola outbreak could cost affected nations billions of dollars and slash economic growth rates by double digits if the virus continues to spread.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Besides just the human toll-over 2,400 deaths since the outbreak began back in early 2014-economists warn that the outbreak is draining public finances and is encouraging aversive behavior. People are avoiding travel and trade for fear of contagion.

Even a moment can help stop this terrible disease.

"The primary cost of this tragic outbreak is in human lives and suffering, which has already been terribly difficult to bear," said World Bank president Jim Yong Kim in a statement that accompanied the report. "But our findings make it clear that the sooner we get an adequate containment response and decrease the level of fear and uncertainty, the faster we can blunt Ebola's economic impact."

According to the report, in the worst-case scenario, economic growth in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia could be slashed by 2.3% to 11.7% in 2015. If the international community mounts a more aggressive campaign to contain the virus, those numbers shrink closer to 1% to 4.2%.

This report follows on the heels of the United Nations announcing that it needs to raise $1 billion to effectively contain the virus, treat its victims and prevent further spread of the disease into other countries.

However, this aid may come a little to late. Public health advocates have been critical of the international community's response, calling it paltry thus far. While the newly announced plan is welcome, it may already be too late.

The West African nations that have seen the worst of the outbreak are the same countries that recently emerged from years of war.

"The sad thing is these countries were rebounding economically, but we can see here that not having invested in health infrastructure is costing them so much," said Amadou Sy, a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution's Africa Growth Initiative and a former economist with the International Monetary Fund.

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