Great, SARS Jr. is in Hubei!

I just got an e-mail from the US Embassy confirming what Mark has already told me- there's some creepy deadly virus dancing around central China by means of "person to person by direct contact with nose and throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons." EWWWWWW!


It's not actually SARS Jr. The Techinal name is Enterovirus 71, Ev71 for short, and it's an intestinal virus. Great! As if China hasn't dejected my digestive system enough already...

More highlights from the Embassy:
"American citizens are advised of an ongoing outbreak in China of an intestinal virus called enterovirus 71, or EV71. This virus causes a variant of hand, foot, and mouth disease. There are no specific precautions for this other than the general hygiene recommendations for living in China. " Lovely! General hygiene doesn't exactly exist around here. I'm not exaggerating, they don't have soap in public bathrooms, and rarely even have hot water.

"Over 3300 cases and at least 22 deaths have been reported in Fuyang City in Anhui Province. All of the deaths were children less than 6 years old and most were under 2 years of age. A few additional cases have been confirmed in Hangzhou City in Zhejiang Province. Hubei Province and Hong Kong have also reported a few cases." I live in Hubei provence, Anhui provence is the next one over, and I spent the weekend with germy orphans!

"The symptoms of EV 71 are similar but more severe than the common hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Typically, it starts with a generalized illness, poor appetite, and sore throat, followed by a fever, rashes on the hands, feet, and buttocks along with mouth ulcers. HFMD is often confused with foot-and-mouth disease of cattle, sheep, and swine. Although the names are similar, the two diseases are not related at all and are caused by different viruses." I'll keep y'all posted if these mosquito bites turn out to be something more!

Regardless, I'm evacuating in 4 and half weeks!