Rolling volcanic hills laced with hiking and biking trails sound like a landscape one would find in Hawaii or other Pacific Island chains, but, for one African country, these vistas are helping to reshape its national identity.

A mere twenty years ago, Rwanda was known for genocide. Warring factions slaughtered each other in a fight that left as many as 1 million people dead and the country filled with economic and political turmoil. Now, the war is a harsh memory, and the country is attempting to reach beyond it. Cycling has played a key role in this process.

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Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that affects hundreds of millions of people each year. Recent estimates show over 300 million people are infected each year, and more than 1 million die from the disease. However, many travelers decide to forego the necessary malaria medications before and after traveling.

In some cases this is because travelers ‘believe’ they won’t get malaria despite the fact that a risk is indicated. Often, these individuals think because they are staying for a short time in an endemic region or are staying at a resort, they are safe. This is not correct.

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On July 6, 1885, the first human rabies vaccine was administered. But, the story behind the vaccination is almost as incredible as the discovery of the vaccine itself.

Louis Pasteur, a French scientist and inventor of the pasteurization process used in milk and wine today, developed a rabies vaccine after extensive trials on rabbits and dogs. However, by July 1885, he had never tested it on a human being. Or, that was the case until an emergency arose on July 6th of that year.

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Scientists in British Columbia, Canada, have found the path of a 2010 measles outbreak linked to the Vancouver Olympics, but their research has also given us a look into the importance of vaccination.

The research, which was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, followed the spread of the measles virus almost immediately after the 2010 Olympics. Through genome sequencing, the researchers were able to track the virus’s spread and identify where it likely originated from.

Of the two strains, one spread throughout a general area while the other took a slightly different route and could be seen following a single highway, slowly spreading north.

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In June 2013, Wanda O’Donnell, BSN, Travel Nurse Consultant, traveled to Brazil as part of a medical outreach mission. Now, she is the focus of our first “Sharing the Journey” post, an opportunity for Passport Health travelers to share their travel experiences.

Part of what makes Wanda’s journey unique is what happened before her departure. While preparing for her trip to Brazil, Wanda came to Passport Health, and, in her words, immediately fell in love.

“That’s how I found Passport Health. I was going on this mission trip and needed vaccines, and came in for a consult and absolutely fell in love with what they were doing. The services and the vaccines, all of it. I expressed an interest in working as a Travel Consultant in their office. Two days after my visit to Passport Health I dropped off a copy of my resume. That is how I became a Travel Nurse Consultant at Passport Health.”

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