My friends, I woke up this morning very worried with the news regarding the first confirmed patient with Ebola in the United States. If you saw the movie "Outbreak", "Contagion" and the most recent "World War Z", you know that there is a tiny step between a virus and a pandemic.
Officials from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention are hopeful that they can treat the patient from Texas contain the virus and prevent an outbreak. Sounds familiar? You heard those exact words from characters in those movies, don't wait for things to get out of hand. Be prepared!
Read more ¿Qué más?: RSV is killing kids: What you need to know
Up to yesterday patients with Ebola were treated in this country but never infected. The discovery of patient zero changes the rules of the game. It was believed that the virus was only generated in Africa and was going to remain there. Viruses change and mutate as they move from patient to patient and I have to tell you that I'm really scared about this outcome. We have a sick patient now and I think there will be others.
There are few things we can do to keep our family safe and healthy in case of a pandemic. Everything can turn in a second and before you know it instead of preparing for the holidays we are running from the virus. Follow these guidelines for now until we know more about the situation.
1. Stay healthy: Take vitamin C, eat super foods, take a lot of iron and eat a high protein diet to strengthen your immune system. Let's make it harder for the virus to enter our bodies. A strong immune system will fight illness right away and protect you.
2. Wash your hands: Constantly! This will not only protect you from Ebola, but will keep colds and other viral sicknesses at bay. The goal is not to get sick so you don't open the door for the lethal virus.
3. Hydrate: Ebola dehydrates the person in a few seconds and we are usually a little dehydrated to begin with. Triple your water intake and stock up on bottled water. Also, start finding other water alternatives so you can always have it at hand should it run out.
4. Prepare for the worst: If the virus spreads everything will be chaos. Buy lots of canned food, get cash out, prepare a complete first aid kit and plan an evacuation route.
5. Out of the city: The more the merrier! Cities are the perfect environment for viruses. If your city is affected, move your family temporarily to an isolated area so you can prevent yourselves from getting sick.
Image via Corbis
