UNBC Professor Heads to Africa to Fight Ebola
Prince George, B.C. – A UNBC professor is heading to Liberia to join the worldwide fight against the deadly ebola virus.
Dr. Greg Thomas-Reilly, who specializes in nursing and has spent his professional career in the field of communicable diseases, leaves Tuesday for some initial training in France and Belgium before arriving in Liberia where he will help train local healthcare providers and be part of a rapid response team.
UNBC professor Dr. Greg Thomas-Reilly – photo 250 News
He says Liberia is the hardest hit country in Africa by the virus and admits deciding to go there wasn’t an easy decision.
“It’s going to be hard. I have a young son and so it’s been one of the hardest decisions of my life but I view it as akin to soldiers who have trained to go to war. This is what I’ve been trained to do.”
Thomas-Reilly is going for six months for a period of six week rotations followed by six weeks of rest and relaxation.
He says those rest breaks will be spent here following protocols “of self-imposed quarantine and temperature monitoring, liaising with local public health and the federal quarantine service.”
As for the stigma working around the virus can create Thomas-Reilly hopes that people don’t succumb to what he calls “ebola phobia.”
He notes that his risk exposure is considered low because he won’t be working on “the front lines in a field hospital with people who are living and dying with ebola.”
Before departing for Europe next week Thomas-Reilly spent today taking part in an Ebola and Influenza seminar on campus with Northern Health.
Comments
A brave soul. The experience he gains there will help BC, if the disease spreads to Canada or BC later.
As long as he doesn’t bring it back with him eh prof?
I’d be impressed if he took unpaid leave for this, but you’ll never see that. Those in the ivory towers are very well looked after, and who is paying his expenses. Wonder if he told his kid the Government of Canada says don’t go to that disease plagued hell hole… Wonder if BC medical covers residents going to no fly zones.
Contractor-impressive that you can overlook his bravery and humanitarianism and be concerned only with the potential costs to you. Perhaps your concern might be better directed to the hundreds of millions of dollars that Harper is wasting on his impotent military expedition to Syria which at best might kill a few bad people.
He will be doing research in a lab there and I expect him and others coming back go on a quarantine.
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