ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the history of Ebola, the causes of the virus' high mortality rate, and patterns of human transmission and behaviour that facilitated the spread of the disease during the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak, all within the context of Barry Popkin's demographic, epidemiological and nutrition transition model. The chapter discusses this outbreak of Ebola under the epidemiological transition piece of the model, though each component of the transition is interconnected. By focusing on the epidemiologic transitional aspect of Popkin's model, it becomes clear that the disease ecology framework can be applied to understand the spread of viruses in developing countries. The disease ecology framework outlines human activity in three interconnected sectors: population, habitat, and behaviour which can be displayed in a simple triangle. In many of the past Ebola outbreaks, the epicentres have been traced to locations in close proximity to mines since they provide suitable habitats for bats to live.
