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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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Portoroz, Slovenia.
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Ljubljana last week, during yet another Q fever outbreak. [source]
If you’re coming to Slovenia from the United States, what medical precautions should you take? I would say none. I certainly didn’t. But that’s not what this site thinks. Looking through their warnings, I can’t believe I was stupid enough to just hop on a plane and travel to a country ridden with hepatitis A, measles, mumps, rubella, tick-borne encephalitis, Q fever, Lyme disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (”mad cow disease”), and traveler’s diarrhea. You can find all of these horrible things, and more, in the average horse burger this country called Slovenia.
It’s a crazy list. Not that it’s necessarily inaccurate (although it does forget to mention the recent bird-flu outbreak) but because it’s pointlessly terrifying. It sounds like the country is a public-health disaster. I mean, “Perform a thorough tick check at the end of each day with the assistance of a friend or a full-length mirror”? “Do not ride on motorcycles”? “Abstain from beef while in Europe or eat only solid pieces of muscle meat, such as steak, rather than products like sausage or chopped meat that might be contaminated”?
I’ve got an even better idea: Buy a big plastic bubble, put yourself in it, and then roll your ass around Slovenia without any concerns. Make sure you sterilize yourself first. And bring an extra bubble in case you pop the original one. Slovenia has many rocks, some of them dangerously sharp.
(Thanks Grega!)
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Just plain funny.
You will calm down, when you look at other country sites. (I tried Austria and Italy).
Davor is right: the advice, more or less generic and same for all Central, Eastern and South Eastern Yurp countries, is more or less sensible and not too alarmist. What is wrong to point out about ticks? They seem to trust older EU memebers more, but hey, a lot of people do. Still: according to the site, visiting UK, for instance, would be much more horrifying - and dangerous -experience.
Like I said, none of it is technically false. But it creates an overall atmosphere of danger where there is none. They might as well warn you about lightning or possible bear attacks.
A recent story in the Washington Post revealed how poor people seem to be at processing information and that trying to educate people on the truth only makes things worse. I can easily see that people would walk away from a site like this thinking that Slovenian sausages are toxic and that there’s the distinct possibility that they would catch Q Fever if they come here…
Oh. In which case I think it would be appropriate to compile a proper list of ALL POSSIBLE problems an American tourist might encounter in Slovenia and send it to THAT site. The list should include everything from ingrowing toenails and excessive gas to sunburn and, yes, lightning. What about that? Whereas for the Slovenian bears: we all know it’s the French farmers who are murdering them.
@Michael M.: You seem to be a medical phenomenon… An American who survived for god-knows-how-many years in this sespool we call Slovenia. And all that without a plastic bubble
You should sell your anti-bodies to Pfeizer or the likes and make gazilions of euros
Tadej: You’re joking, but they actually already mention “sunburn” on the site. As if someone needs to be warned that the sun is hot..
pengovsky: My secret is to avoid the horse burgers.
They forgot to mention the Common Slovenian Killer Draft, though.
My advice… don’t look at this site and watch MM Sicko at the same time… cause, not only that there are many diseases here, our medical system also sucks… (and USA is just infront of us).
So… MM (this time Mr. Michael M) is really a medical phenomenon to survive such harsh conditions
But OK… i guess for Slovenia it is for sure: “Most travelers are at extremely low risk.”
Unless you count in also road accidents.
Does it also list watching TV news? Exposure could be lethal. No Fox here… (whoops)
Slovenia… “(Mostly) harmless”
Now there’s a slogan that would’ve been a stellar choice.
I noticed there was no recommended vaccicantion against food poisoning in Italy or Montezuma’s Revenge in Mexico. Thank God they pointed out Influenza in San Marino … that place has been a HOT BED of Influenza the last few years. I can’t believe warnings exist for Switzerland … that place is like a freaking hospital it’s so clean … This site is out of control.
Hvala Lepa!
I am in Ireland now, there ought to be any number of travel warnings here too, but there aren’t. so it oes.
Incidentally that illustration looks like a 19th century political cartoon, aren’t the two women wearing something made out of an American flag? Is this a secret message?
Q fever btw is also called ‘Balkan Grippe’ or ‘Balkan Fever’
The only fever I’ve had so far in Slovenia is disco fever. Oh, and one time I had Saturday Night Fever.
Having children is a permanent cure.
I have to admit that Mexico’s information is quite accurate…
Michael, can you get one of those bubbles online anywhere?
Kevin: Supposedly you can, but I haven’t seen them. I think a lot of people wish they had one.