Bernard Z. was a popular male college student of Russian descent. Health and strong, he did very well in school, had many friends, and was doing rather well for a 21-year-old. He rarely spent any time at home, preferring more to travel abroad and see historical landmarks. His parents approved of this, and supported him in all he did.
In his senior year of college, he decided to take a trip to Madagascar, Africa with a few of his close friends. The group was of the daring sort, and preferred to sleep outside and eat new foods rather than stay in a posh hotel where all the food was catered. While they were there, they tried many new kinds of food, including goat, cow, and monkey. They slept under the stars and would stay up all night talking about many things. As they slept, mosquitoes would crowd around them and start biting them over and over again. The students didn’t notice until they woke up covered in large red welts. This happened repeatedly, as the students were young and foolish enough to think that it was simply all “part of the experience.”
Six days later, Bernard started getting headaches that came in the morning and didn’t leave until after he fell asleep. Attributing this to a lack of sleep in the weeks before, he didn’t think much of it. In the days to follow, his joints and muscles started aching, he lost weight in a very rapid time, and he was dizzy after performing simple activities. Not thinking that it could be anything serious, he took some ibuprofen and went to bed.
The next morning when he woke up, he was depressed and his symptoms had become far more severe. He was vomiting, had a raging fever, and was passing blood in his vomit. He quickly rushed to see a doctor, who put him in a private room and diagnosed him with Rift Valley Fever. After learning that there was no cure or immunization, Bernard quickly started losing hope. He was put on a myriad of antiviral drugs and told to rest. He woke up hoping to find his symptoms gone, but instead they had greatly multiplied. His fever was 104.5, his vomit was bloody, his nose was bleeding, and he was losing eyesight. The doctors hooked him up to machines in hopes that he would stabilize, but he only stayed conscious for a few hours that day. His family was called in to say their final goodbyes, and they had lost all hope for Bernard.
When he woke up the next morning, after two days in the hospital, Bernard found that all of his symptoms had gone away. He was no longer nauseous, and he could walk with no assistance. His eyesight was a bit impaired, but it was nothing serious. He was just happy to be alive. After learning that Rift Valley Fever is easily prevented, he started a company that sells bug nets for under $10 and is now making millions and saving lives.
