Fresno couple plans trip near Ebola stricken areas

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Extreme poverty and a lack of education are big problems in the small country if Guinea-Bissau where Chris and Holly Collins travel.

The Fresno couple works for West African Vocational Schools. The non-profit focuses on teaching young people a trade.

"Guinea-Bissau has got a long history of political instability, poverty and now unfortunately it is also facing the threat of Ebola," said Chris Collins.

Guinea Bissau is sandwiched by Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Centers for Disease Control now recommends everyone avoid nonessential travel to both those countries.

"I think it's just a matter of time that it will spread there. At some point in time there will be a case. The border is porous even if they say it's closed there are people that come across and I think people are nervous," said Holly Collins.

The Collins say despite the risks they feel called by their faith to go back in November.

Collins added, "If I know someone is sick I am probably not going to be embracing them and touching them."

Christi Paradise is the infectious control coordinator at St. Agnes Medical Center. She says the virus is spread through body fluids. She added there are now specially designated isolations rooms in the hospital in the unlikely case anyone gets sick.

"You don't need to be worried. The CDC assures us that this is only a single case and they are monitoring individuals coming from other countries," said Paradise.

But the Collins family says they need to be extra cautious because they're traveling much closer to the outbreak.

"Seeing that it's here in the U.S. just reminds me that you're not safe anywhere you go. It's globalization like the world is so close now," Heidi Collins.

The CDC says symptoms of Ebola are very similar to the flu. The key questions doctors will be asking any patients who show up in hospitals with those symptoms is whether they traveled to West Africa recently.