THE
FEAR OF EBOLA
IS THE BEGINNING OF DEATH
According to archives, the first case
of Ebola was recorded in 1976 when a female doctor contacted the virus while
dissecting a Bat. I was never a science student, but amongst all the animals I
heard were dissected or used for practical in most Nigerian laboratories Bat wasn’t
inclusive. It is usually rats and lizards. Someone unintentionally invented a
virus that killed her in 1976. From then till now, this virus had no cure or
vaccination. Lots of lives had been lost in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and
the rest of them.
Few
days back things suddenly changed, a virus that had no cure or vaccination for
over 38 years, even when it became epidemic, suddenly had cure, because two
American doctors were infected.
ZMapp
the prospective cure for Ebola was given to the doctors who were on the verge
of death, and they started getting better. I wonder why these drugs were never
given to the Liberians that lost their lives to Ebola. Did Ebola suddenly have
a cure few days after it entered America, or was the cure hoarded?
Nigerians
in their own style have invented a lot of primitive preventive measures for
this deadly virus. Yesterday I woke up to a friend’s call, her message was
simple “Boil water, add salt and then use it for your bath before the day
breaks. It is a preventive for Ebola”. She didn’t even give me quantities of
her vaccination. I thought it was a prank, until I went downstairs; everyone
was struggling to get water. It was so unusual for them to be awake by that
time, suddenly I saw someone with salt, and I realised they all got the same
message.
Most
people bathed with salt. But what has salt got to do with Ebola? Have we
forgotten Osmo-regulation, I just wondered. Nigerians just have a way of making
a joke out of everything.
Few
weeks ago, they said Bitter Kola was a preventive medicine for Ebola. One of my
friends bought a large quantity and made bitter kola his meal, soon the price
of bitter kola rose in the market. I have just come to realise that amidst the
death Ebola brought, it also brought confusion. Soon everything will serve as
vaccination; red oil, coconut, Moringa seeds... virtually everything will
serve.
The
fear of Ebola might actually be the beginning of death, because most people are
ready to do anything, even what can kill them, just to prevent Ebola.
So
help us God that we do not die trying to prevent an Ebola that might never
infect us.
Augustus Bill
©2014
TUN/0015//09/08/14
No comments:
Post a Comment