This Is Africa.

Military deployments will always result in exposure to health hazards other than those from combat operations. The occupational and environmental health and endemic disease health risks are greater to the Special Operations Forces (SOF) deployed to the challenging conditions in Africa than elsewhere in the world. SOF are deployed to locations that lack life support infrastructures that have become standard for most military deployments; instead, they rely on local resources to sustain operations. Particularly, SOF in Africa do not generally have access to advanced diagnostic or monitoring capabilities or to medical treatment in austere locations that lack environmental or public health regulation. The keys to managing potential adverse health effects lie in identifying and documenting the health hazards and exposures, characterizing the associated risks, and communicating the risks to commanders, deployed personnel, and operational planners.

Bites, stings, and rigors: clinical considerations in African operations.

The natural health threats in Africa pose daunting clinical challenges for any provider, as evidenced by the current Ebola epidemic in West Africa, but the threat is multiplied for the Special Operations provider on the continent who faces these challenges with limited resources and the tyranny of distance. The majority of operationally significant health risks can be mitigated by strict adherence to a comprehensive force health protection plan. The simplest, yet most effective, technique for preventing mosquito-borne diseases is the prevention of mosquito bites with repellent, bed nets, and appropriate clothing in addition to chemoprophylaxis. Some of the more likely or lethal infectious diseases encountered on the continent include malaria, Chikungunya, dengue, human immunodeficiency virus, and Ebola. Venomous snakes pose a particular challenge since the treatment can be as deadly as the injury. Providers supporting African operations should educate themselves on the clinical characteristics of possible envenomations in their area while promoting snake avoidance as the primary mitigation measure. To succeed in Africa, the Special Operations provider must consider how to meet these challenges in an environment where there may not be reliable evacuation, hospitalization, or logistics channels.