Ebola: Bad to Worse

A Doctor that was treating Ebola patients in the Congo has been brought back to the US, according to Politico. While we’re assured the person did not show any signs of the illness, they’re being held in quarantine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

“This person may have been exposed to the virus but is not ill and is not contagious,” said Ted Cieslak, an infectious diseases specialist at the medical center. “Should any symptoms develop, the Nebraska Medicine/UNMC team is among the most qualified in the world to deal with them.”

While the Doctor has received the vaccine for the virus, a quarantine until authorities can be sure of no infection is necessary. Why this could not have been done in the Congo is not being reported. In theory at least, every care provider in the region is directly exposed to the disease- why they brought this one back to the US is suspect.

But what’s worse is that by the numbers, the second largest outbreak on record is being used as a political weapon by the current ruler, Joseph Kabila. Kabila has refused to leave office since the people of the nation demanded an election in 2016. In a conversation with the World Health Organization, Kabila alluded to an election causing a much larger outbreak.

Kabila on Thursday evening claimed that the hemorrhagic fever could spread as people use voting machines, tapping on a touchscreen to select candidates. A polling station could have 500 to 600 voters and “this assumes that a lot of people will be contaminated,” he said. Health officials have said people would sanitize their hands before and after voting.

Kabila has no intention of leaving power, and, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis on many levels, appears to take a belligerent stance towards Western intervention.

Kabila, when asked what advice he had for his successor, replied: “The biggest recommendation is that he listen to the voice of the Congolese and not follow that of the United States, Europe or elsewhere.”

With that attitude, the current crisis is bound to get much worse before it gets better. Perhaps the Chinese will come to his rescue. The virus works well into their plan of further colonization of the African continent.

With the rising levels of instability, 2019 is the year you need to prepare like never before. Preparedness starts with knowledge, and knowledge is gained through training.