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Thursday, September 6, 2007

Uh oh...

Mmm yes, outbreak of some kind of mystery disease in Congo, has just killed 100 people.

Currently we're discussing if it is too dangerous to go.

WHO has hinted it's a hemmorhagic fever which of course makes everyone think of ebola. Ebola is a virus that currently has no effective treatment or cure. Up to 90% of cases end in death. You start off with a high temperature, headache, and nausea, which means it's usually misdiagnosed as malaria. It ends pretty nastily with internal hemmorhaging and you end up dying from blood loss.

The outbreak happened quite a ways from Kinshasa but Brian's mum is still freaking out. I haven't told my mum yet. Don't know if Tory's mum knows.

Ah Congo. It's always something. Which is why hardly anyone studies bonobos. If there were bonobos in a nice peaceful place like the Mediterranean, you can bet your bottom dollar that's where we'd be. But they don't.

I think what it comes down to is that it's never a good time to go to Congo. The last time we went, it was the middle of the election which could have turned into a war zone. Then we went after the election, which also could have turned into a warzone.

I don't know. We're still discussing. Keep you posted.