When my son was a few days old, I had a very vivid dream. There was a hemorrhagic fever like illness breaking out all over the Country. In that dream, it had somehow gotten into the food supply and people who ate beef became infected. I remember I was being screened and because of my blood pressure, my nose began to bleed. I remember trying to explain to them but they took me. I remember that I was screaming and telling them no because I had a young child at home. I remember the child waiting patiently for me on the bleachers and as I woke up, regretting that I ate the frozen beef in the freezer.

I woke up in a cold sweat, remembered everything and from that moment on, I stopped eating beef. I stopped allowing it into my house or to touch the same things. I then applied to college to study microbiology. Knowledge is like a candle in the dark, it makes the fear go away.

My youngest is now the age of the child in my dream. As of now, there is no disease that even mimics what I dreampt about. CJD is spread by infected beef and some other types of animals but not fast acting nor hemorrhagic. All hemorrhagic tend to be fast acting. For me that one dream changed the course of my life. It may mean nothing and I pray it means nothing or it could mean something. What, I'm not sure.

But every time Ebola or Sars or some of the other illnesses hit the news, I pay attention. We don't give our research scientists enough credit for keeping us safe. They aren't the bad guys.