It’s July and another Liberian rainy season…and I am still trying to take every opportunity to look around the lush greenery and the water gushing through em overflowing streams as drive around in my car but there are several distractions tugging the mind in different directions.
Perhaps not the most strongest but certainly the most pressing distraction is the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever or commonly just called as Ebola.
I am writing this blog today but will refrain from posting it immediately with the hope that I will get to post it well after the scare of Ebola has passed. So far my family is completely oblivious to Ebola and I intend to keep it that way for at least a little longer. Posting it will needlessly bring this issue to their attention and will result in only making them anxious about something that they can’t do much about…probably a helpless situation made worse by the hair-raising reports coming out of the major news agencies recently.
Ebola as common knowledge suggests, enters the human population through wild animals, specifically monkeys or fruit bats. I have never seen bats sold as bush meat in Africa so most certainly the recent outbreak started after someone consumed an infected monkey. I got this awesome piece of infographic from The Huffington Post below which is a great summary of the virus and its current spread across West Africa.
It’s considered as one of the most deadly viruses today and my first memory of it is reading about it when I was planning my journey through Gabon in search of Gorillas and Chimpanzees a few years back. Of course by the time I went there in July 2011 the disease had long subsided but it was interesting how the tales of its deadly influence were still doing the rounds on the internet.
The unsettling gloom of this virus has been fostering around Liberia for a while now - the first news of its outbreak was reported around late January - early February and by April it seemed that the virus was well contained. Unfortunately one of the several victims from that outbreak was a spouse of a teammate living not too far from my office. She had contacted the virus while visiting her infected sister from Lofa, a county in the north bordering Guinea which has the unenviable distinction of being the epicenter of this particular outbreak.
A few months back I recall several people from my company’s concession area being quarantine and monitored for several weeks until they were declared negative. By May we were certain that we had dodged a bullet with no new infections reported from all over Liberia. Then in early June, reports started emerging about another outbreak this time in neighboring Sierra Leone and seems like this time the virus has come back with a vengeance. Quite certainly the second coming was related to un-detected cases from the first outbreak and so far the total count of dead is over 650 and the infected is over 1,200 with more bad news coming through each progressive day. Just recently a couple prominent doctors leading the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia succumbed to the virus. The doctor from Liberia actually served a chief medical post with my company before he retired. This was well before I arrived in this country though so I don't know him personally.
Information on the virus states that it’s very weak and can be killed by simply washing with common soap or detergent. As with most people at work I have taken to the hand sanitizer - I now have one each in my office, car and home. I have never been an obsessive cleanliness freak but I fear I am turning into one as I wash and sanitize my hand a million times a day.
This week I saw folks from the accounting department at work wearing gloves as they process documents. I go to the supermarket and I am instructed to wash my hands thoroughly before get in. I speak to most of my friends and the common topic of discussion is “What the latest situation on Ebola?” It’s now a headline on Yahoo!, BBC and CNN and as of today just debuted as a headline on the website of India’s leading daily the, The Time of India.
Colleagues, Liberian and foreign are seriously concerned about themselves and their families. Kids are not going to school and a few of the expats are exploring options on exit strategy. Are people overreacting considering that only 650 are dead and most of them are health care professionals?...perhaps…but with no known cure and a 70% mortality rate who would blame them.
I am more bothered about the situation of the air carriers. Today two of them suspended their flights to Liberia. One of them was Arik Air, a Nigerian carrier and the other one was Asky Airlines based out of Togo - I had taken both these planes on my last home leave just a month ago.
The news on Asky is a little more disconcerting as recently there was a case of a Liberian from the Ministry of finance who travelled on Asky, perfectly fine on departure but seriously ill by the time he arrived in Lagos, Nigeria. As of yesterday he succumbed being the latest victim of this deadly virus. Sure the virus is contagious only through bodily fluids but that does not help alleviate the sense of fear and apprehension prevalent all around Liberia at the moment.
So far the US Embassy has not taken an alarming view of the situation which might suggest that it is not as bad as reported in the news so as things stand as of today there is absolutely no need for evacuation or anything drastic.
Quality of life has been impacted no doubt as we are officially advised to refrain from unnecessary travels, movements and presence in crowded places. Going to clubs and bars is definitely out and I have to think twice before visiting restaurants and markets too.
Hoping this scare passes soon not just for me but for all folks around West Africa but until then I am keeping my hand sanitizer close by.
Perhaps not the most strongest but certainly the most pressing distraction is the Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever or commonly just called as Ebola.
I am writing this blog today but will refrain from posting it immediately with the hope that I will get to post it well after the scare of Ebola has passed. So far my family is completely oblivious to Ebola and I intend to keep it that way for at least a little longer. Posting it will needlessly bring this issue to their attention and will result in only making them anxious about something that they can’t do much about…probably a helpless situation made worse by the hair-raising reports coming out of the major news agencies recently.
Ebola as common knowledge suggests, enters the human population through wild animals, specifically monkeys or fruit bats. I have never seen bats sold as bush meat in Africa so most certainly the recent outbreak started after someone consumed an infected monkey. I got this awesome piece of infographic from The Huffington Post below which is a great summary of the virus and its current spread across West Africa.
 |
| From the Huffington Post |
It’s considered as one of the most deadly viruses today and my first memory of it is reading about it when I was planning my journey through Gabon in search of Gorillas and Chimpanzees a few years back. Of course by the time I went there in July 2011 the disease had long subsided but it was interesting how the tales of its deadly influence were still doing the rounds on the internet.
The unsettling gloom of this virus has been fostering around Liberia for a while now - the first news of its outbreak was reported around late January - early February and by April it seemed that the virus was well contained. Unfortunately one of the several victims from that outbreak was a spouse of a teammate living not too far from my office. She had contacted the virus while visiting her infected sister from Lofa, a county in the north bordering Guinea which has the unenviable distinction of being the epicenter of this particular outbreak.
A few months back I recall several people from my company’s concession area being quarantine and monitored for several weeks until they were declared negative. By May we were certain that we had dodged a bullet with no new infections reported from all over Liberia. Then in early June, reports started emerging about another outbreak this time in neighboring Sierra Leone and seems like this time the virus has come back with a vengeance. Quite certainly the second coming was related to un-detected cases from the first outbreak and so far the total count of dead is over 650 and the infected is over 1,200 with more bad news coming through each progressive day. Just recently a couple prominent doctors leading the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia succumbed to the virus. The doctor from Liberia actually served a chief medical post with my company before he retired. This was well before I arrived in this country though so I don't know him personally.
Information on the virus states that it’s very weak and can be killed by simply washing with common soap or detergent. As with most people at work I have taken to the hand sanitizer - I now have one each in my office, car and home. I have never been an obsessive cleanliness freak but I fear I am turning into one as I wash and sanitize my hand a million times a day.
This week I saw folks from the accounting department at work wearing gloves as they process documents. I go to the supermarket and I am instructed to wash my hands thoroughly before get in. I speak to most of my friends and the common topic of discussion is “What the latest situation on Ebola?” It’s now a headline on Yahoo!, BBC and CNN and as of today just debuted as a headline on the website of India’s leading daily the, The Time of India.
Colleagues, Liberian and foreign are seriously concerned about themselves and their families. Kids are not going to school and a few of the expats are exploring options on exit strategy. Are people overreacting considering that only 650 are dead and most of them are health care professionals?...perhaps…but with no known cure and a 70% mortality rate who would blame them.
I am more bothered about the situation of the air carriers. Today two of them suspended their flights to Liberia. One of them was Arik Air, a Nigerian carrier and the other one was Asky Airlines based out of Togo - I had taken both these planes on my last home leave just a month ago.
The news on Asky is a little more disconcerting as recently there was a case of a Liberian from the Ministry of finance who travelled on Asky, perfectly fine on departure but seriously ill by the time he arrived in Lagos, Nigeria. As of yesterday he succumbed being the latest victim of this deadly virus. Sure the virus is contagious only through bodily fluids but that does not help alleviate the sense of fear and apprehension prevalent all around Liberia at the moment.
So far the US Embassy has not taken an alarming view of the situation which might suggest that it is not as bad as reported in the news so as things stand as of today there is absolutely no need for evacuation or anything drastic.
Quality of life has been impacted no doubt as we are officially advised to refrain from unnecessary travels, movements and presence in crowded places. Going to clubs and bars is definitely out and I have to think twice before visiting restaurants and markets too.
Hoping this scare passes soon not just for me but for all folks around West Africa but until then I am keeping my hand sanitizer close by.
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