Rift Valley Fever and other maladies

There’s a lot of talk here about Rift Valley Fever. Not as much as the talk about upcoming Presidential elections and not so much that it’s constantly in the media, but it’s enough of concern such that for a country who’s staple diet is usually beef and ugali (a corn-based starch), many people are foregoing eating beef or other livestock and eating now only chicken or fish. It doesn’t matter that there is beef that has passed inspection and been approved for consumption or that the virus can be easily inactivated by thoroughly cooking the meat. People don’t want to take chances, and neither do restaurants really want to risk someone getting ill and claiming that they got ill because of the meat the restaurant served.

There is currently a ban on the slaughter of livestock in many areas, and that, in itself, is affecting many people here. Tending livestock (cattle and goats mostly) is the means of survival, not just a living, for many people in rural areas. And for the Maasai, ritual livestock slaughter and the use of such blood is a necessary part of their culture. So many here are loudly grumbling about the ban and about Rift Valley Fever. People joke that the cows and goats are happy now because they’re safe and getting a chance to grow older, while all the chickens must feel doomed as they are targeted for dinner tables – at least until avian flu hits here. Then, the only safe (relatively) thing to eat will be vegetables, so everyone will become vegetarians. Actually, I’ve heard some voice their concern that if people aren’t able to begin slaughtering their livestock as usual, they will have to endure even harder times as they won’t have a means to survive and they will have to figure out how to feed their larger than normal livestock in country that is already limited in good grazing areas for cattle.

Rift Valley Fever can also be transmitted by mosquito bites, although not as commonly as through close contact with infected livestock and their bodily fluids. Still, it’s something that crosses my mind as I note that despite the generous eau de toilette of DEET that I apply every morning, I seem to continue to collect plenty of moquito bites. >:P I’m just glad for my mefloquine, especially when I visit so many health facilities and note in their registers the number of children seen and treated for malaria. Of course, I’d feel a lot better if the mosquitoes would quit using me for their haute cuisine.

By the way, I just want to mention the inanity of American insurance companies and drug stores that limit one’s prescription to 3 months supplies despite their being told that one needs a supply for a specific period of time. I had a nasty shock when I looked at my mefloquine and thought it didn’t look like quite enough. Sure enough, only 12 of the 18 pills I need for appropriate malaria prophylaxis had been given to me. (Mefloquine is to be taken one pill weekly starting one week before going to the area of exposure and continuing for four weeks after returning.) With my current supply, I’ll be taking my last pill 3 weeks before I return home. Yes, I should have counted the pills prior to leaving, but since the pharmacy saw fit to inform me that they wouldn’t fill more than 3 months supply of another prescription, I had assumed they would do the same for any other – ha! Well, I’ll figure something out. Diane thinks she may have two extra pills than she needs, so that would cover me until I return, and then I could get the necessary four more pills as soon as I return. >:P Stupid third party payors.