Ebola (4) : The thread is there... the fear seems to be fading ...

I think I have to do an update on Ebola in Burkina. 

Well, do not worry, we still do not have any case, and I do hope it stays like this for long time!  It is true that when I arrived I was a little paranoiac. I imagine it was a mix of several feelings. First, the news did not stop talking about it, cases here and there... Spain, Germany, US, ... And the mathematical models are not that hopeful, either. Expecting an exponential growth of the Ebola cases unless large scale programs stat acting NOW!  Also, sanitation is usually not the same in Africa than in most European settings, and well ... the unknown also played an important role in my mind . Not knowing the place, the people, even my housemates, just made me be more self conscious about every single thing.

After almost three weeks in the country I must say that I am much, much more relaxed now. Even though I think it is quite easy we might get some cases in the country in the next months. But, lets cross our fingers for that not to happen.

In fact, I am happy that Ivory Coast (and also Mali, but mostly Ivory Coast) is in between us and Guine and Liberia. Ivory Coast is one of the most developed countries in the area. They are just so business oriented!!! Any country you go in West Africa, you will always find fruits from Ivory Coast. They market anything that is possible to be sold. In any case, I am happy is a country like Ivory Coast that is next to Guinea and Liberia, otherwise, I would be more afraid... much more afraid. However, it still feels strange that they have not had any case in the country... even though they border two of the three countries with Ebola.

There are tons of stories talking about how strict they are in Ivory Coast and the surveys they do in the border. The son of an Ivorian friend of mine went to the doctor and when the doctor extended the hand to shake it, the kid said, NO. I do not shake hands with people now! Also, a person near by the Liberian border was caught when he was going to cook a big rodent that he had hunted in the wild. He is going to be in jail for the next 5 years... as now it is forbidden to eat any animal from the wild.

In Burkina, is another story. The country does not have a strong medical system... not even to report possible cases (that is the most scary thing). Another story from an Italian Doctor... We had a suspected case of Ebola that arrived to the hospital. The person was quite sick and already vomiting blood. It seems that all the nurses had to treat the patient they abandon the hospital as soon as they saw the men symptoms.  Quite normal, thinking that the equipment in the hospital is very limited. I assumed it was not Ebola, as noone has said so! But in order to confirm an Ebola case, the blood sample has to travel to Lyon (France) and back here! So far, there is no place in the country where you can confirm a case. In fact, you do not have any facility yet, where you could be properly treated. Well, I guess it is not that surprising when even in Europe... in Spain, you do not have so!