Hello all, after posting on another thread I was encouraged to share this:
In July of 2024 – my wife, son and I were in the Dande and Maukti areas of Zimbabwe for 14 days hunting. It was a great trip! On the afternoon of the last day in the bush in Makuti, just riding around and looking – I was bit by a tsetse fly. It was such a non-event, that I only remember rubbing my leg at some irritation – not the bite that has been so well documented here. Two weeks later I was at death’s door with the Red Cross flying my daughter home to say goodbye. The story was told very well by a great writer, Will Dabbs for Field Ethos magazine which I am attaching Also the CDC did a report on me, which I am adding the link below. I was very fortunate that it hit me here in the US, as it has about a 95% morbidity rate in Africa as it can initially present as malaria and those drugs do nothing to combat it. My doctors were amazing and gave me incredible care. There was a daily call between them, the CDC and the WHO for 10 days monitoring my recovery. Only in the USA!
Here is the backside of the story – it has been now two years - and I can say without equivocation it was a blessing. A near death experience exposes a lot of things in your life and I will tell you now that I am grateful for the experience. We were just back in Zimbabwe this summer for two weeks and another great trip to the Save Valley. What happened to me was not an accident, but also very very uncommon. In all of Africa, East African Tsetse flies are only 8% of the Tsetse fly population, and only 5% of the 8% are diseases carriers. Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
As a note – if you return and feel like you have the worse flu you can imagine, the shakes and the bite spot has a very very nasty look, get to a major hospital quickly and to their infectious disease group. If you have it, the drug you want – which can only be prescribed by the CDC - is Fexinidazole Tablets.
www.cdc.gov
In July of 2024 – my wife, son and I were in the Dande and Maukti areas of Zimbabwe for 14 days hunting. It was a great trip! On the afternoon of the last day in the bush in Makuti, just riding around and looking – I was bit by a tsetse fly. It was such a non-event, that I only remember rubbing my leg at some irritation – not the bite that has been so well documented here. Two weeks later I was at death’s door with the Red Cross flying my daughter home to say goodbye. The story was told very well by a great writer, Will Dabbs for Field Ethos magazine which I am attaching Also the CDC did a report on me, which I am adding the link below. I was very fortunate that it hit me here in the US, as it has about a 95% morbidity rate in Africa as it can initially present as malaria and those drugs do nothing to combat it. My doctors were amazing and gave me incredible care. There was a daily call between them, the CDC and the WHO for 10 days monitoring my recovery. Only in the USA!
Here is the backside of the story – it has been now two years - and I can say without equivocation it was a blessing. A near death experience exposes a lot of things in your life and I will tell you now that I am grateful for the experience. We were just back in Zimbabwe this summer for two weeks and another great trip to the Save Valley. What happened to me was not an accident, but also very very uncommon. In all of Africa, East African Tsetse flies are only 8% of the Tsetse fly population, and only 5% of the 8% are diseases carriers. Please feel free to reach out with any questions.
As a note – if you return and feel like you have the worse flu you can imagine, the shakes and the bite spot has a very very nasty look, get to a major hospital quickly and to their infectious disease group. If you have it, the drug you want – which can only be prescribed by the CDC - is Fexinidazole Tablets.
Notes from the Field: Rhodesiense Human African ...
This report describes a case of rhodesiense human ...
www.cdc.gov
