The 2014 outbreak of the Ebola VirusDisease in West Africa has taken a horrible human toll.Although the outbreak originated in rural Guinea, it has hithardest in Liberia and Sierra Leone, in part because it hasreached urban areas in these two countries, a factor thatdistinguishes this outbreak from previous episodeselsewhere. As of September 10, 2014, there had been 2,281recorded deaths out of 4,614 suspected or confirmed cases ofEbola. Experts fear that the true numbers may be two to fourtimes larger, due to underreporting. Misery and sufferinghave been intense, especially in Liberia where doctors havehad to turning patients away for lack of space in Ebolatreatment centers.Inevitably, before the outbreak iscontained the human impacts will increase considerably overthese numbers. Epidemiological estimates are acknowledged ashighly uncertain and are not the subject of this note. Whatis certain is that limiting the human cost will requiresignificant financial resources and a concerted partnershipbetween international partners and the affected countries.Particularly in Liberia and Sierra Leone, governmentcapacity is already overrun and the epidemic is impactingmacroeconomic activity and budgetary resources. This noteinforms the response to the epidemic by estimating thesemacroeconomic and fiscal effects. Any such exercise isnecessarily highly imprecise due to limited data and manyuncertain factors, but it is still necessary in order toplan the economic assistance that must accompany theimmediate humanitarian response. The goal is to helpaffected countries to recover and return to the robusteconomic growth they had experienced until the offset ofthis crisis.
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