No Ebola! Bad Ebola!

I REALLY F***ING HOPE SO
[Image taken from mapsofindia.com]

You know how science fiction movies shows you those horrifying shots of post-apocalyptic world? Yeah, those with the Brad Pitts and Will Smiths in it. So instead of being sad and horrified and angry that some fake protagonist failed to save the humanity from brink of extinction (they end up saving anyways), I generally have a good laugh at it. Not a laugh that gets me into the hall of laughs, but laughs nonetheless. It’s quite entertaining to see how badly we might f*** up this place that we call home and how the director fathoms that in his/her head. But then you read something like this and stop to realize that fiction could transcend into reality. very soon.

"The 26-year-old man is being isolated in a facility at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport, The Times of India reports."

“According to the Times, the man had already been treated for Ebola in West Africa, currently does not have symptoms and tested negative for the virus before he flew. However, his semen tested positive for the virus.”

That last line really hits the spot. 

Of all the places you might want Ebola to be, India will probably be way down on that secret list you have been scribbling around on your notepad because let me tell you what, if India has an Ebola outbreak, all hell is going to break lose. It’s not just a country we are talking about here, but the population; a huge untethered mass of residents who live in close proximity to each other. The exponential growth of Ebola patients in the region will be unfathomable. If US, probably the most prepared nation to mitigate an outbreak of the virus, is literally shitting its pants right now then imagine how India is going to deal with such a humongous, gigantic, dinosauric, monstoric task.

If you truly want to know who else is shitting his pants right now it's me. I am in such a state that I am looking to for some Ajashi diapers around GS25 to see if they fit. I will probably have to order a year’s worth of it from Gmarket but there you go. I will also be praying to my newly made Ebola-prevention god because I am not sure if the other gods have any clue how this is really going to work out. A friend of mine suggested Shiva. Good point, but then he will probably get mad and destroy the rest of us too. You gotta be careful of what you wish for, you know.

What seriously worries me is the impact it is going to have to people back home. India’s open boarder policy has been a boon and curse at the same time. That is till now. If, ebola-prevention-god forbid, breaks out in India, the scale is going to tip the other way.  It is highly plausible to think that Nepal too will be affected. So will Bangladesh, Srilanka, Bhutan and worse…China.

China!

We, as a nation, can hardly take care of outbreaks of lesser, curable diseases such as cholera…cholera, for god’s sake. It’s unimaginable to think how we are going to cope with a disease which has yet to find a proper cure (there is but if treated at the earliest). It’s not at all interesting to read and listen about how Doctors Without Borders and Co. are working out there at ground zero, trying to prevent patients from dying and prevent the disease from spreading. The sad reality is, if the ground zero expands its territory beyond our borders, there won’t any help because well, it will all be a little too late by then.

Please India, don’t screw up this time will you?

[If you are a practicing doctor and you know a thing or two about ebola, you can leave your comments below. It would be interesting to read what you make out of this possible mess]