Ebola, Zimbabwe, and world of shit

This plainly shows just how damned difficult it is going to be to contain the ebola outbreak. The piece is good. Here is a bit that illustrates just how ill equipped much of Africa is to contain outbreaks within a country's borders:

While Government has done a bit of work in preparation of any case of Ebola, more still needs to be done.

For instance, the entry and exit points of the country are still highly porous. Cases that would have otherwise been picked at these points will find their way into the country without anyone noticing.

I was at Beitbridge Boarder post the other day and there was no screening to talk about both on the Zimbabwean side and at the South African side. I asked why I was not being screened for Ebola and I was told I would be screened upon return from SA.

Upon my return, absolutely nothing was done as I just entered and left the borders without any screening.

Another concerned individual passing through Harare International Airport called the Herald Newsroom a few days ago expressing concern over the screening procedures at the airport.

The immigration officials flip through all travellers' passports with one pair of gloves. The fact that they are putting on gloves means, Ebola has chances of transmission by simply holding someone's passport. But this issue of holding everyone's passport with one pair of gloves exposes other travellers to the virus. The temperature detectors are a welcome development since there is no body contact with anyone.

*heavy sigh*

If you read the article, you will see that people are frightened. Unsurprisingly, health workers are not only the most frightened, but because of their fears, the health workers are--at least according to the piece--largely the people spreading the fears. At this stage, these particular strains of ebola may be more easily transmissible than most other strains; the possible exception being Ebola Reston. If I was front line health worker in sub-Saharan Africa I am certain I would st best be concerned.

I really need to update my case charts. As of 10 October there are a confirmed 4,033 deaths and 8,399 reported cases in the 2013-2014 outbreak. Here are few troubling paragraphs from the piece:

David Nabarro, the senior UN coordinator for the international response to Ebola, said the number of cases was probably doubling every three-to-four weeks.

Nabarro told the UN General Assembly on Friday that, without a global response,"the world will have to live with Ebola forever." He said the international effort needed to be 20 times greater than it is currently.

Well, the world is likely to be dealing with ebola of one strain or another until the virus's natural reservoirs are obliterated, everyone gets vaccinated, or the virus runs out of people to infect via some other means. No, I am not going to state what should be clear from that progression.

I will do a super quick chart revision..Stand by..