Ebola. One of the scariest diseases known to man, but fortunately a very rare illness. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, as Africa developed and human civilization expanded into areas previously uninhabited, the number of Ebola/Marburg cases per year gradually increased. By 2008, the amount of time in which MSF was containing a VHF outbreak exceeded the amount of time in which there was no outbreak. It seemed like a time bomb waiting to explode.
But then, a funny thing happened. The outbreaks stopped coming. Better education of the population in areas where the viruses are native drastically reduced the number of outbreaks, and their size. MSF has been running campaigns in those areas to inform people how the viruses are spread and of their symptoms. People are taught to avoid contact with ill primates and not to have contact with people with Ebola symptoms. As a result, no African has contracted Marburg in nearly four years, and there has been just one Ebola case since January 1, 2009 (http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167833&page=3), and that case was quickly isolated and did not transmit the virus to anyone else. And if that were the whole story, this would be a huge triumph.
But Africans aren't the only people in Africa. Many Western tourists visit Africa for a variety of reasons, and Ebola likely isn't on their radar at all; it's just too rare. Travel health preparations may include anti-malarials, a yellow fever vaccination, and such, but they usually don't involve the Ebola virus. Unfortunately, the number of tourists who have contracted these viruses over the past four years may actually exceed the number of locals, depending on what you count and in what time period.
Exhibit A:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137060
An American woman from Denver travels to Uganda in January 2008, visits a cave, has contact with an infected bat, flies back home to Denver on a commercial jet, takes ill in Denver, and visits a Denver hospital where no one suspects VHF. The woman is triply lucky; she survives, she did not fly while ill, and she infects no one else. No one even discovers her illness is due to Marburg until six months later when:
Exhibit B:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=168391
A Dutch woman in July 2008 visits the SAME cave as Exhibit A, has contact with the same bats, flies back to the Netherlands, and takes ill there. The woman here is slightly less lucky; she dies, but fortunately does not travel while ill, and infects no one else.
Exhibit C:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82019&page=4
A South African woman, Cecelia van Deventer, travels to Lusaka, Zambia, in late August 2008, where she has several unusual exposures, including contact with an ill horse, a tick bite, and travelling in the bush while barefoot. She takes ill in Zambia, is medevaced back to Johannesburg, South Africa, and dies. Two weeks later, the paramedic who medevaced her dies as well, as does a nurse who treated her in South Africa. The illness is determined to be caused by a new VHF virus, which gets named as the Lujo arenavirus in honor of the two cities Ms. Deventer was ill in. By the time the outbreak is contained, five people are infected, including four HCW, and four of the five die. But at least she didn't travel while ill on a commercial flight.
Exhibit D:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=417761
Over the past few weeks, the Devaney family from Wales has travelled to Uganda for a variety of reasons including missionary work and charity, as well as a safari. Their four-year-old son, James, who has had contact with animals, takes violently ill with an unknown hemorrhagic illness around July 13, and is medevaced to Nairobi, Kenya a few days later, where he dies on July 25 without being diagnosed. His body is then flown (how?) back to Wales, where his funeral is scheduled for August 11. On August 6, ProMED gets a hold of the story (http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1010,89671), and suspects Ebola. There is likely some kind of mad scramble now going on to track James's parents, and his two older sisters, who are in route from Kenya to Wales. The diagnosis is still unclear, and there are still no reports of any other illnesses, but the story is ongoing...
So that's three or four tourists, depending on the resolution of the current incident, and one native African in the past few years. The Ebola virus will really mess up your vacation; if you are travelling to areas where such viruses are found, do some research as to what the risks are and how to avoid them. The life you save might be your own...
But then, a funny thing happened. The outbreaks stopped coming. Better education of the population in areas where the viruses are native drastically reduced the number of outbreaks, and their size. MSF has been running campaigns in those areas to inform people how the viruses are spread and of their symptoms. People are taught to avoid contact with ill primates and not to have contact with people with Ebola symptoms. As a result, no African has contracted Marburg in nearly four years, and there has been just one Ebola case since January 1, 2009 (http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167833&page=3), and that case was quickly isolated and did not transmit the virus to anyone else. And if that were the whole story, this would be a huge triumph.
But Africans aren't the only people in Africa. Many Western tourists visit Africa for a variety of reasons, and Ebola likely isn't on their radar at all; it's just too rare. Travel health preparations may include anti-malarials, a yellow fever vaccination, and such, but they usually don't involve the Ebola virus. Unfortunately, the number of tourists who have contracted these viruses over the past four years may actually exceed the number of locals, depending on what you count and in what time period.
Exhibit A:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137060
An American woman from Denver travels to Uganda in January 2008, visits a cave, has contact with an infected bat, flies back home to Denver on a commercial jet, takes ill in Denver, and visits a Denver hospital where no one suspects VHF. The woman is triply lucky; she survives, she did not fly while ill, and she infects no one else. No one even discovers her illness is due to Marburg until six months later when:
Exhibit B:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=168391
A Dutch woman in July 2008 visits the SAME cave as Exhibit A, has contact with the same bats, flies back to the Netherlands, and takes ill there. The woman here is slightly less lucky; she dies, but fortunately does not travel while ill, and infects no one else.
Exhibit C:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82019&page=4
A South African woman, Cecelia van Deventer, travels to Lusaka, Zambia, in late August 2008, where she has several unusual exposures, including contact with an ill horse, a tick bite, and travelling in the bush while barefoot. She takes ill in Zambia, is medevaced back to Johannesburg, South Africa, and dies. Two weeks later, the paramedic who medevaced her dies as well, as does a nurse who treated her in South Africa. The illness is determined to be caused by a new VHF virus, which gets named as the Lujo arenavirus in honor of the two cities Ms. Deventer was ill in. By the time the outbreak is contained, five people are infected, including four HCW, and four of the five die. But at least she didn't travel while ill on a commercial flight.
Exhibit D:
http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?p=417761
Over the past few weeks, the Devaney family from Wales has travelled to Uganda for a variety of reasons including missionary work and charity, as well as a safari. Their four-year-old son, James, who has had contact with animals, takes violently ill with an unknown hemorrhagic illness around July 13, and is medevaced to Nairobi, Kenya a few days later, where he dies on July 25 without being diagnosed. His body is then flown (how?) back to Wales, where his funeral is scheduled for August 11. On August 6, ProMED gets a hold of the story (http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1010,89671), and suspects Ebola. There is likely some kind of mad scramble now going on to track James's parents, and his two older sisters, who are in route from Kenya to Wales. The diagnosis is still unclear, and there are still no reports of any other illnesses, but the story is ongoing...
So that's three or four tourists, depending on the resolution of the current incident, and one native African in the past few years. The Ebola virus will really mess up your vacation; if you are travelling to areas where such viruses are found, do some research as to what the risks are and how to avoid them. The life you save might be your own...
