Unless you’re living under a rock , you probably heard the news that our old friend « Cholera » is back in full throttle!

Our neighboring country Algeria is in total disarray since a cholera outbreak took the country by storm. It managed to spread through 6 regions. 221 people were held in quarantine and that included 82 confirmed cases. Despite the efforts, the illness managed to take the lives of 2 people.

This tragic occurrence has managed to put the people in a state of fear and pushed the country into a state of absolute chaos. Nobody knows what and who to believe anymore and baseless rumors are rendered into facts.

« They told us today that they found a trace of vibrio Cholera in Beni Azza. I live nearby. Nobody drinks the stream water or swims in it. I can’t see how the contamination occurred, » says Karima, a student in Blida.

This whole situation of fear lead the agricultural industry to plummet according to Hadj Tahar Boulenouar president of the NATA: The comsumption of fruits decreased by 30% especially for watermelon at a rate of 50%.

On a bit of a positive note these dark times created an unprecedented awareness among the citizens. Cleaning campaigns are becoming more and more mainstream and are finally seen as a vital necessity.

«People are worried. It’s for that reason that they’re cleaning their towns. Today we even reached the stage of embellishment,» stated by Amar Adjili, a renowned ecologist.

Now that we’ve assessed the whole situation, time to pass to actions. What does it mean to us?

Should we freak? maybe a little. Should we take precautions? Yes; better be safe than sorry.

As wise men once said « know your enemy… »:

Name: Vibro Cholera.

Infected Organ: Small intestie.

Infection manner: Through contacting water contaminated with infected faeces or any sort of contaminated food.

Symptoms: The symptoms only take place after an incubation of 1 to 5 days. Then a series of extreme symptoms take place. Starting with severe painless diarrhea which may cause in many cases an acute severe dehydration, adding up to that the patient experiences nausea and vomiting. The dehydration may and will cause electrolyte imbalance due to loss of minerals leading to muscle cramps and shock caused by low blood pressure thus leading to death within minutes.

Scared enough now? Then let’s proceed to precautions. We’ll keep’em short and simple! Here are the 5 rules to live by :

1: Drink and use safe water. Make sure it did not have any contact with contaminated water.

2: Religiously wash your hands with soap.

3: Cook food well enough especially sea food.

4: Use latrines and bury your feces.

5: Clean up 30 meters away from any water sources.

Unless you want your life to turn into a raunchy « Love in the time of cholera » story, we strongly urge you to follow the instructions . Stay safe everybody <3