Ebola has raised its ugly head in the region. A forested area in Guinea, our neighbor to the South, has experienced an outbreak of Ebola, aka hemorrhagic fever. This is an ugly disease, killing up to 90% of victims and doing it in an average of 9 days from the onset of illness. The incubation period for the illness is up to three weeks so people can appear perfectly healthy while they have the virus. The World Health Organization gave us a briefing last week and I don't think we are in danger, but it is kind of a spooky thing. Truck drivers are the people they are most concerned about since they move between countries and shall I say have not been known to be celibate.
Senegal, which surrounds The Gambia on all sides except the ocean, has closed its borders with Guinea. However, having accidentally gone into Senegal on trek, I know that the borders are leaky, though truck drivers would probably not travel on the roads I was on.
The interesting thing about Ebola and Africa is that the testing for it is not easy, the blood samples are being sent to Paris for testing. Health workers are especially at risk, though with everyone on alert they are probably being more careful now. But someone could come into the country with no symptoms and then come down with symptoms and expose the health workers.
As I said, I am not too worried about it, since it is still quite a distance from here. But it is something to think about. They are saying to avoid eating bush meat which I don't think will be a problem for me. Love those bush rats.
