Ebola, SARS, Coronavirus and Barbados
It seems as though a new deadly virus pops up ever so often to see which is more deadly.
Food-borne diseases in Barbados I hope will never happen to a point where it is out of control.
The Greatest Respect
If you think I have the greatest respect for police, no, the Defense Force, nope, they fight crime not diseases, but I do have lots of respect for them, however, the greatest respect I have are the health inspectors.
I Have to Eat
Health Inspectors in Barbados don’t need a warrant to check unscrupulous kitchens in Barbados which may be suspected of dirty practices.
Restaurants in Barbados have to abide by the health laws, I have a friend that wanted to sell pastries from a mall, but her stall area had no running water, she was told she could only sell them if they were already in a bag.
If she sold pastries it meant that she would have to use a tong and then place the items in a bag and still deal with money, at some point unknown to her a simple but deadly transfer of bacteria could get into someone’s unsuspecting mouth, this person will then blame it on the pastry for making them sick, with water you simply wash your hands after each transaction.
It is simple things like that which can make a big difference. 🙂
You might think a simple act of washing your hands before eating is common knowledge but this knowledge wasn’t always so common.
Hand washing with soap and water has been considered a measure of personal hygiene for centuries and has been generally embedded in religious and cultural habits. Nevertheless, the link between hand washing and the spread of disease was established only two centuries ago.
In the mid-1800s, studies by Ignaz Semmelweis in Vienna, Austria, and Oliver Wendell Holmes in Boston, USA, established that hospital-acquired diseases were transmitted via the hands of HCWs (Health care workers).
Camels and Bats
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a newly recognized virus occurring mainly in the Middle East. As of June 2014, 683 cases, including 204 deaths, have been reported to the World Health Organization from Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Human-to-human transmission seems limited to family and health care settings, but a recent study raises concerns that MERS-CoV could be transmitted by camel milk and its products.
Dromedary camels in the Middle East and Africa are now thought to be the intermediate hosts for transmission of MERS-CoV from bats to humans because MERS-CoV-specific antibodies and RNA fragments are widespread in camels from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Kenya.
Should we be worried about Covid19 for our Cats and Dogs?
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The Latest Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
What is the source of 2019-nCoV?
Public health officials and partners are working hard to identify the source of the 2019-nCoV. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses, some causing illness in people and others that circulate among animals, including camels, cats, and bats.
Analysis of the genetic tree of this virus is ongoing to know the specific source of the virus. SARS, another coronavirus that emerged to infect people, came from civet cats, while MERS, another coronavirus that emerged to infect people, came from camels.
Ok, so I won’t be eating any bats or drinking any camel milk anytime soon based on the connections between MERS-CoV and 2019-nCoV.
You just can’t go around putting every animal in your mouth, it may all be fun and games until a virus breaks out.
Even the Jamaican Ackee not an animal but a fruit, this national dish in Jamaica is banned in America.
The fruit is safe to eat when it has ripened properly, but if not, high levels of hypoglycin A and B can cause severe effects on the body up to the point of coma or death. some countries just aren’t taking any chances with things they can’t cook.
Maybe that’s it, maybe you have to cook the bats longer or only eat the male cats, ok let me stop with my undocumented no fact-checking theories.
Chinese Restaurants In Barbados
I love Chinese food and will never stop eating it, Chinese restaurants in Barbados have to deal with my super heroes known to you as the health inspectors, they are governed by the laws of Barbados but more so the wagging tongues of Bajans.
If a Chinese restaurant dare sells any unusual meat other than what we are accustomed eating, I’m sure before the health inspectors reach that restaurant, it will be closed simply because of no sales once the word gets out.
Bajans love to talk and I’m 100% Bajan so if any Chinese reading this it would be in your interest to hire locals; 100% workforce Chinese restaurants may bring suspicion.
Small Farmers
Please don’t take any shortcuts with my health, if your animal is sick don’t kill and sell it; take it to the VET, don’t force feed your animals to get them plump so your bank book will look good after the sale, don’t do this to the people in Barbados.
I’m picking on small farmers since you have less eyes on you, most of you operate in your backyard or next to your house, I support small farmers all the way but do the right things and don’t stray.
To My Super Heroes
Health inspectors of Barbados continue to do your job without any fear; the entire population is depending on you.
I want to thank Classimax for allowing me to post this article on their website.
Read the Classimax Barbados magazines – CLICK HERE
UPDATE – March 24th, 2020
Barbados now has 18 people infected with the Covid-19 virus. The coronavirus infections continue to climb as we in Barbados may soon implement a shutdown and close borders.
