Tacos and Rabies

Feb 19th, 2009 – This one was only going to be labeled Rabies, but at this moment real tacos are being prepared in the kitchen, I mean with ground beef, cheese, avocado, salsa and all. The only thing that looks to be missing is sour cream. I’m very excited. We are going to Joe’s to watch some of the first round of the NCAA tournament and have the tacos. Joe has a pretty swanky place in ICIPE, the local research facility so is set up for TV and making ice cubes. This is a very big occasion. We are getting spoiled in the food department with Judy’s cooking.

Rabies – I got attacked by a ferocious stray dog last Saturday. Well it was more like bitten by an unfriendly canine. Okay, it was a nip by a dog of unknown origin. Only a couple teeth actually punctured the skin, and all flesh is still attached. I thought I knew what dog did it until we passed by later on the way from the town’s medical clinic and there were 2 dogs lying at the point of attach. Since I didn’t actually see the dog as the nip happened, the one I did see afterward could just have been spectating.

This incident happened on my way back from Mbita Town. It already wasn’t a perfect trip. It was the first time I had warn shorts out in “public” while in Mbita. I usually reserved the shorts for after evening showers when we were by ourselves at the parish compound. I wanted to stay with the local custom of all men wear long pants as shorts are for primary school kids. I had a few strange looks from the locals as I pasted by with my pasty pale legs. I think a few snide comments were also exchanged at my expense. I had just run an errand and was at the “junction” where the Sindo road Ts into the Mbita – Homa Bay road. I must have been daydreaming or looking at something else that had caught my interest. All of a sudden, without me even knowing there was a dog in the vicinity, one was drawn to the white meat of my calf and nipped me on the side of my leg. I yelped like a little girl which drew the snickers and laughter of the many motorcycle drivers that wait at the corner for passengers and the ladies manning their kiosks of various types at the busy intersection. I looked down at my leg and saw the blood and still did not register exactly what had happened. I glanced around and finally spotted a dog slowly trotting away looking back over its shoulder at me with a “so what are you going to do about it look” on her face. It was definitely a female, and looked like one of the parish dogs. I didn’t even occur to me to try and catch it so if could be determined if it was rabid or not. But as mentioned, there were others in the area later and since I didn’t even notice a dog until a few seconds after the nip and run, it may have actually been some other dog.

I went on back to Steve and Judy’s not thinking much of it, but once they heard about it they were pretty sure that rabies should be a real consideration and the bite dealt with professionally. They were very persistent in tracking down the doctor at ICIPE to have it looked at and dealt with. This took a while as he was out watching a football (that’s soccer to us Americans) match. We eventually just headed to the local governmental medical clinic. They did not have anti-rabies meds as it was too expensive to keep on hand. So they “cleaned” it with sterile water and recommended going to ICIPE. While at the clinic Nick, the ICIPE doc, called Steve back and said they did have the medication and to come on over. So a few minutes later I was getting my first of 5 injections at 2,000 shillings a pop which is quite expensive here. But then ICIPE is known for charging high end prices. I’ve heard in Homa Bay I could get the whole set of 5 from a pharmacy for under 4,000. Oh well, it makes for a semi-boring story.

Time to head for the games and eat TACOS.
Paul