Ebola (1)

Early this morning I arrived to Ouaga, the capital of Burkina, in Western Africa.

Before leaving home (Spain) people asked me if there was Ebola in the country, and I was saying, no, there is not. Happy and confident, adding that ...there is not Ebola neither in Burkina, nor in the neighboring countries (Mali, Niger, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin)... but yes, there is in the region of Western Africa.

Right at the entrance of the airport we all had to wash our hands with hand-sanitizer, we were measured the body-temperature and we had to show our 'Yellow Fever' vaccination card. None of the passengers had fever that was reassuring!

Heading out from the airport, already with my luggage, I saw a person holding a paper with my name. I did smile to him, and he offered me his hand to introduce himself. I was not able to refuse. It is too impolite in the African culture to do so. But first thing that I noticed was his sweat and hot hands. I am pretty sure he had some fever; his eyes were also showing signs of fever. Most likely malaria, but somehow, touching him did give me an uncomfortable feeling. Rapidly I did look into my bag for the hand-sanitizer and put some, in order to feel a little better. I did say goodbye to him without touching him, and just putting my hand in my heart.

My little panic against Ebola was just starting.

I slept at least 8 hours. I was lucky to have a contact in town, a friend that works for the OMS. I was happy to have an interesting guide to Ouaga, that would also put me into context. A more real context than the European news and my fears ...

'It is a matter of time for the Ebola to come to the country'. She first said. 'There will most likely be cases and we are already preparing an isolation center outside of town. During the next three months the cases will continue increasing, but with the current investments being done in the region, it is likely that in three months time the outbreak will be under control. Now, only 25% of the cases are being covered. We need to have at least 70% of the infected people under treatment in order to contain the disease...' 

Her words did not reassure me much. I was concern, quite concern. I was sad thinking that in my way back to Europe people, my friends and family, would feel fear to be close to me, to touch me, to just talk to me.

I was also afraid thinking how I could start minimizing my personal contact with people. How I would set now a procedure to minimize people's contact.