Ebola and you

A lady asked her husband “Honey, if I have Ebola, will you expose me by calling the authorities or telling anyone about my condition?” I waited for responses to this tweet by a Nigerian young man. Some made fun of it and laughed about it, others just typed “hmm!” But one response summarizes what I think many Africans may do if their loved one showed symptoms of this deadly virus. It reads “I swear, I will keep it a secret and get some concoction that will heal my babe, I will not worsen the condition by disgracing her”. If my guess about that being (probably) what many Africans will do was wrong, the number of people who clicked “favorite” on this reply, proved me right. There were thirty-five (35) likes. Maybe I am not too surprised because I have read so many comments on Social Media where people make puerile statements about Ebola. But friends, Ebola is not something to jest about. It is a deadly disease that needs to be taken seriously.

When you think about how deadly Ebola virus is you want to really look for how to help yourself, your loved ones, your community, nation and the entire region that is affected. Ebola is not HIV/AIDS. Maybe some people have attached shame to HIV/AIDS because, in many cases, it is an infection caught from ones mischievousness. Thus, when someone has HIV, people look at him/her and say “good for you; if you had zipped up, you wouldn’t have caught the HIV. Maybe they have a point, but with Ebola, it is not like that. As a matter of fact, in this case, those more at risk are people who are out there to help the infected.  I do not believe that anybody deserves to be infected by any deadly disease and I do not believe that God punishes a people with such. If any disease is a punishment for sin, then what did a new born baby do to deserve such punishment? Maybe we humans are the creators of our own problems, or maybe these things are accidental.

I am not writing to point fingers or play the blame game, this article is to enlighten you about this recent outbreak and to show you how to protect yourself and your family.

Here is what you need to know about Ebola:

• Ebola is an extremely infectious Virus
• This is the first outbreak in West Africa
• This is also the deadliest Ebola outbreak ever
•   The disease is named after River Ebola in northern Democratic Republic of Congo
•  Fatality rate of up to 90%- which means that 90% of people who contact the virus die
•  It is not airborne but it is moderately contagious-which means that you will not contact it by walking past someone who has it. It’s not like flu or measles that are airborne
• It was transmitted to humans from wild animals (officials have it that it comes from Monkeys and Fruit Bats). It is suggested that cooking your food thoroughly could save lives. People in rural areas (or wherever you live) who eat “bush Meat” are encouraged to desist. If you must eat bush meat, cook or roast it very well.
• There are also reports of Pig to human transmission.  It is suggested that infected animals should be identified, killed and disposed of properly. But since most farmers may not want to waste their investment by killing and disposing their Pig, and the average person doesn’t know how to identify a ‘sick Pig”, it might be wise to avoid eating pig (if there are people who still eat Pig).
• At the moment there is no vaccine
•  Men who survive the infection may still be able to transmit the disease through their semen for about 60 days after they recover
•  Health workers are more at risk

Symptoms

1. Sudden fever
2. Sore throat
3.   Body weakness/fatigue  
4. Rashes
5. Red eyes
6. Aches
7. Chest and body pain
8.  Diarrhea
9. Vomiting
10. Difficulty in breathing or swallowing
11. Stomach pain
12. Internal and external bleeding

Some of these symptoms show up when the person is getting really sick which makes them contagious.    

Mode of transmission

It is important to mention, again, that Ebola is not airborne. Like we said, it is said to originate from Monkeys and fruit bats. So it seems to have been transferred from these wild animals to people whose delicacy it is. Human to human transmission is majorly by physical contact with someone who manifests the symptoms above. Someone who has the virus may not be contagious until they fall sick and when they do, their body fluid becomes infectious.  Body fluids are known to be vectors for infectious diseases, that’s why, even in the case of other infections, we are advised to avoid exchange of body fluids. When you exchange body fluids with an ill person, (either by touching, drinking, sucking, kissing and etc.) you contact any infectious disease they have. If someone is infected with Ebola, contact with any fluid that comes out of their body can transfer the virus. The list of body fluids is quite long but here are a few major ones: Saliva, urine, breast milk, earwax, tears, semen, female ejaculate, vomit, sputum, blood, feces (boo boo or poo poo), vaginal secretions, mucus and sweat.

Safety first

Like they say, it is better to be safe than sorry. The best approach to this is to stay safe. If the fatality rate is 90%, it is almost a sure thing that whoever gets infected will die.  To confirm that one has Ebola, there has to be some laboratory tests and since most of us do not understand the gobbledygook, we need to learn:

1.  How to be safe
2.  How to help those who we suspect have the virus.

Let’s leave the technicalities to those who are qualified and apply practical safety tips.

Here are some safety tips: 

• Avoid making contact with anyone who manifests the above symptoms. Don’t try to check the suspected sick person, but if you have to, protect yourself- wear gloves and wash your hands afterwards. It is probably safer to call for help if the person is very sick. 
• Common soap can kill the virus, so wash your hands very often. This does not mean that you should go about touching people who are sick. It is precautionary, in case you touched a sick person’s body fluid unknowingly, or you touched something that has infected fluid; Wash your hands again and again with soap. Do you remember the nursery rhyme? “Wash your hands (2x), after the toilet (2x), wash with soap and water (2x) keep the germs away (2x).
• Sanitize. Sanitize. Sanitize. There are all kinds of sanitizers everywhere, use them. Sanitize your home-door knobs, kitchen utensils, toilet handles, toilet seats, faucets, bath tubs, shower and everything you and your family and friends share. 
• Avoid making contact with dead bodies of those who died from the virus.
• If you feel any of the above symptoms, avoid making contact with family and friends and seek help immediately. 

True love is…

You know, I understand love. I love my family more than anyone/anything and I will do anything to protect them. But honey, if I develop any symptom that feels like this Ebola thing, I will be the first to tell my loved ones to stay away from me and call the authorities. It is an act of love to keep them at a safe distance when I’m ill and seek help. Also it is wickedness of the highest form, to have an infectious disease and demand that someone share in your disease or cover it up. If you make contact with anyone who has the virus, you stand a huge chance of surviving if you say something early. There is no wisdom in hiding the truth. If you are exposed, you do not want to expose those who care about you. If you love your family, you will not want to kill them, would you? If your child develops symptoms of this killer disease, you will save other members of the family by separating the sick child from everyone and seeking for help. And before help comes, you make sure you protect yourself as you help the sick child. And to answer your question my tweeter friend, no baby, if you have the virus I will save other members of the family by calling for help; and meanwhile, I will separate you from the family, protect myself, and see how I can help you before help comes. It will break my heart that my loved one has the infection, but it will break my heart the more to think that the whole community got sick because we were stupid. True love is revealed in how I handle critical and sensitive matters; if I love you, I will take the plunge to save you, my family and community. If you love me, I expect you to do same.

Is this ignorance or foolishness!?

Just as I write this, I looked at twitter again and here is another question someone asked “Can someone catch Ebola by kissing his infected lover? Please reply, help needed” Erm! Is it me or are some people just injudicious? Or is she actually ignorant? OK! I assume the later and I’ll answer. Yes, saliva is a body fluid and the virus can be transmitted via saliva.

Some others were tweeting about drinking and bathing with salt water and how it prevents and kill the virus. First I thought it was a joke until I realized that many of them were serious. I do not see how salt intake can kill a virus. Don’t be fooled.

I also read the messages circulated about bitter kola. Well, there is no harm in eating bitter kola, it has medicinal powers. But I’m not sure you should risk contacting Ebola and  eat more bitter-Kola just to find out if it can heal you. That’s a risk not worth taking. If really there is ongoing research to see if it can be the cure to this malady, then let’s wait until we have a definite result. But even at that, I do not want to take the risk of becoming sick to get the treatment. Let’s be safe.

Faith factor

I am a man of faith and I live by faith. I believe the word of God when it says that none of these diseases will come upon me or mine and I pray these scriptures daily. I pray for my family and friends and all of you reading this and I believe that God will protect us from this plague. Although, faith works, I also warn against foolishness in the name of faith. Faith doesn’t say we should throw caution into the air and live recklessly. A man of faith will pray, stay away from dangerous and unsafe behaviors and be honest when they see something that will make things worse. So I challenge us all to have faith. Pray, protect yourself and your family, and help the authorities where necessary. God needs us all to stop this plague. The government needs us to fight it. This infirmity is temporal and soon it shall pass. Together we will fight it and we will overcome. I pray that you will not be a victim of this or any plague, in Jesus name! Amen!

PS: A young girl said to her mum “…I heard that in 2001 Ebola killed 224 people at ‘XYZ’ place and I know uncle Jasper is there. I’m worried for him, and I’m praying for him… he is like a dad to me” I was so touched when I got this text one morning. Phoebe, thank you for looking out and praying for me, I appreciate your love, concern and prayer. And I want to say I love you too.