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Disfiguring tropical disease surges in Afghanistan
Yahoo News ^ | October 15, 2010 | Robert Kennedy

Posted on 10/15/2010 2:01:07 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012

KABUL, Afghanistan – An outbreak of a tropical disease caused by sand fly bites that leaves disfiguring skin sores has hit Afghanistan, with tens of thousands of people infected, health officials said Friday.

Cutaneous leishmanisis is a parasitic disease transmitted by the female phlebotomine sand fly — an insect only 2-3 millimeters long that requires the blood of humans or animals so its eggs can develop. Treatable with medication and not life-threatening, cutaneous leishmanisis can leave severe scars on the bodies of victims.

The disease threatens 13 million people in Afghanistan, the World Health Organization said, and many impoverished Afghan victims can't afford the medication to treat it.

In Kabul — described by the WHO as "the world capital of cutaneous leishmaniasis" — the number of cases jumped from an estimated 17,000 a year in the early 2000s to 65,000 in 2009, WHO said.

Most victims are women and children. WHO said women and children are more vulnerable because they mostly live indoors at night, where the sand flies prefer to bite, and are therefore more susceptible than men who are generally outside the home.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs
KEYWORDS: leishmanisis; microbiology

1 posted on 10/15/2010 2:01:09 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

Too bad some genius hasn’t invented DDT.

(no, wait...............um, never mind)


2 posted on 10/15/2010 2:04:00 PM PDT by EggsAckley ( There's an Ethiopian in the fuel supply!)
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To: ilovesarah2012

Don’t worry RF, when the Taliban get in control again I’m sure they will take care of this.


3 posted on 10/15/2010 2:05:42 PM PDT by Marty62 (marty60)
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To: ilovesarah2012

Phew, I though they were talking about feminism.


4 posted on 10/15/2010 2:21:47 PM PDT by cicero2k
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To: cicero2k

Somebody on the site of the story said that explains burkas.


5 posted on 10/15/2010 3:18:08 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

“...and are therefore more susceptible than men who are generally outside the home.”

Yeah, right. Doing what?


6 posted on 10/15/2010 3:40:48 PM PDT by Dartman
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To: ilovesarah2012
13,000,000??? that's half the population...
7 posted on 10/15/2010 3:42:24 PM PDT by Chode (American Hedonist *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: ilovesarah2012

Has anybody invented a sand fly bomb to be lobbed at the Taliban?...


8 posted on 10/15/2010 3:42:46 PM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole....)
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To: hosepipe

That sounds like a plan. LOL


9 posted on 10/15/2010 5:47:05 PM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

BTTT!


10 posted on 10/15/2010 11:23:49 PM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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To: ilovesarah2012
Leishmaniasis is found scrolling about a third of the way down.
11 posted on 10/16/2010 12:00:32 AM PDT by neverdem (Xin loi minh oi)
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