Posted on 06/17/2009 8:27:14 PM PDT by Steelfish
Bubonic plague reported in Libya
The World Health Organization (WHO) is sending an expert to Libya to look into a reported outbreak of bubonic plague not far from the Egyptian border.
Libyan officials say at least one person has died and several more have been infected in the town of Tubruq.
Cases of the disease, which was known as the Black Death in medieval Europe, are reported quite frequently in sub-Saharan Africa.
Bubonic plague can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early. The WHO received a request from Libya to investigate the suspected cases in Tubruq on Tuesday, spokeswoman Aphaluck Bhatiasevi said.
An expert is on his way to Tubruq where he will help a government team study epidemiological data and check the reported cases. If confirmed, it would be the first outbreak in that part of Libya for about 25 years, Ms Bhatiasevi said.
The Associated Press news agency quoted a Libyan official as saying that two people had been treated and sent home, and 10 others turned out not to have the disease.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Rats!
al Qaeda bio-warfare testing?
0 was just in Egypt it seems plagues follow.
This happened about 5 months back....Sudan, I think it was. Or Chad...?
There were about 30 AQ deaths, and the cause was that they were dinking around with a bioWeapon.
This is SUSPICIOUS.
Send Jimmy Carter to negotiate a truce with the germs.
If I’m not mistaken, generally there are a couple cases per year in the good ol’ USA.
Bubonic Plague pops up in the southwest regularly. Prairie dogs are a big carrier, as well as other rodents. Easily treatable now.
Plague is endemic in Libya. It’s very possible that this is a natural outbreak.
By ALEX WEST
Published: 19 Jan 2009
ANTI-TERROR bosses last night hailed their latest ally in the war on terror - the BLACK DEATH.
At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.
Epidemic ... in Britain in 1665
The killer bug, also known as the plague, swept through insurgents training at a forest camp in Algeria, North Africa. It came to light when security forces found a body by a roadside.
The victim was a terrorist in AQLIM (al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb), the largest and most powerful al-Qaeda group outside the Middle East.
It trains Muslim fighters to kill British and US troops.
Now al-Qaeda chiefs fear the plague has been passed to other terror cells - or Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
One security source said: “This is the deadliest weapon yet in the war against terror. Most of the terrorists do not have the basic medical supplies needed to treat the disease.
“It spreads quickly and kills within hours. This will be really worrying al-Qaeda.”
Black Death comes in various forms.
Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. Symptoms include boils in the groin, neck and armpits. In Pneumonic Plague, airborn bacteria spread like flu.
It can be in the body for more than a week - highly contagious but not revealing tell-tale symptoms.
Deadly ... the plague bacteria causes horrific symptoms
The al-Qaeda epidemic began in the cave hideouts of AQLIM in Tizi Ouzou province, 150km east of the capital Algiers. The group, led by wanted terror boss Abdelmalek Droudkal, was forced to turn its shelters in the Yakouren forest into mass graves and flee.
The extremists supporting madman Osama bin Laden went to Bejaia and Jijel provinces - hoping the plague did not go with them.
A source said: “The emirs (leaders) fear surviving terrorists will surrender to escape a horrible death.”
AQLIM boss Droudkal claims to command around 1,000 insurgents. Training camps are also based in Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria.
AQLIM bombed the UN headquarters in Algiers in 2007, killing 41. Attacks across Algeria last year killed at least 70 people.
In an interview last July, Droudkal boasted his cell was in constant contact with other al-Qaeda “brothers”.
Was inoculated against the plague while in Air Force basic training. I was one of 5 out of 55 trainees in my ‘flight’ that didn’t end up in the hospital as a result of the shot.
Wonder if the inoculation is still good today. Don’t wish to find out! Would be nasty if it were a biological warfare experiment.
What a bunch of dirty flea bitten goat-romancers.
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