Ebola outbreak could cost countries up to $809 million

The Ebola epidemic outbreak in West Africa could cost the three most affected countries $809 million by the end of 2015, devastating the already fragile economies of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, three of the poorest countries in the world, a new analysis shows.

The report comes amid renewed global attention to the outbreak, which began six months ago but which has grown exponentially in recent weeks, with cases doubling in just the last three weeks. The United Nations Security Council will meet Thursday to discuss the Ebola epidemic. And President Obama has announced plans to send 3,000 American troops to help coordinate response to the disaster.

Fast action — getting the outbreak under control within four to six months — could reduce those costs, said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. But if the disease spreads around West Africa, the cost could grow to billions.

"If we invest everything needed right now, the cost will be much, much less going forward, not only in human lives but in economic impact," Kim said. "We do not have the people on the ground to get to the best case scenario."

Coordinating the response to Ebola is key, Kim said.

In terms of the financial cost, "it doesn't really matter how many cases there are," Kim said. "What maters is how we gear up our response."

About 80% to 90% of the economic cost of Ebola comes from the "fear factor," Kim said, as businesses shut down operations out of fear that their employees will contract the virus.

Families are already suffering, as jobs disappear because airlines cancel flights and seaports are closed, Kim said.

Many people are become unemployed, as once-full hotels are now nearly empty and other service industries are hard hit, said Ishmeal Alfred Charles of Sierra Leone, who spoke Tuesday at a Senate subcommittee hearing. Charles — a former child soldier and survivor — said the Ebola outbreak could be even worse than the country's devastating civil war.

The disorganized response to Ebola has made world economic leaders consider what would happen in the event of a pandemic virus that is more easily spread, such as through the air, Kim said.

"We now need to rethink our overall level of preparedness for pandemics of all kinds," Kim said Wednesday.