I have become worried: worried that I will be the next victim of this terrible illness that's come to the village where I am staying while I do my work in the missions field.

Several people in the village  have sickened with puzzling symptoms including fever and general malaise; some on the other hand have come down with more severe symptoms including not only fever and malaise, but meningocephalitis (infection of the brain and/or spinal cord; this is very contagious), hemhorragic fever (think: ebola or any similar illnesses (this is also very contagious), and inflammed, swollen, red eyes.  The ones who are sickest have been taken to the nearest hospital in town; the people who are not nearly as sick are being closely watched and treated by the village doctors who can only do so much.

The illness in question is not new: it is called Rift Valley Fever, or RFV (or more simply, Valley Fever for short).  It was first reported in Kenya, Africa, roughly around the year 1915, in livestock.  The virus was kept isolated until 1931, or therabouts, when people started getting sick with the illness.  This was when it was discovered that RVF could be transmitted from livestock to humans.

RVF is caused from two different scenarios: a.) from the bite of a type of mosquito infected with the virus (the Aedes or Culugenera are the most common), or b.) the direct contact with the RVS virus, a member of the genus photovirus.  It is spread by a bite from an infected mosquito (see above).  

Outbreaks of RFV occur in areas mainly across sub-Saharan Africa, with outbreaks happening elsewhere infrequently (but at times severely).  As recently there were outbreaks in Kenya (2010, just last year), and in 1998, an outbreak of RVF claimed the lives of over 400 people in Kenya alone.  In September of 2000, outbreaks of RVF were confirmed in the countries of Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The illness can cause different symptoms among humans.  One human being might have one set of symptoms and seem only mildly affected while another person might be desperately sick and/or be fighting for their very life.    As I alluded to earlier, symptoms can range from just a mild fever and little else to bleeding from the orafices, high fever, severe prostration and/or pain, and blood-red eyes.  

Happily, most patients recover, but 1% of people who get this illness die.  This is where the epidemics come into play.

In the village where I am staying, there appears to be the start of an epidemic.  I am terrified that I will be bitten by an infected mosquito or end up being coughed on by a person who happens to be bleeding; then I would get sick.  

This is my biggest fear right now.  

I have to wear protective clothing including gown, mask, and gloves, as well as safety goggles, if I visit a person who is sick.  All I can really do is try to comfort them if they are delirious and keep them in my prayers and/or anoint them with oil.  It is a "wait-and-see" type of situation, but one that has caused me to get very little sleep as I and others minister to the sick.

I don't know what is going to happen down the road, but for some of these people, it may already be too late: they are so sick, especially the elderly or the very young.  To see them suffering so greatly brings tears to my eyes and all I can do is cry.  

Or pray.

~To be continued.~