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2002-06-10 India-Pakistan

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Posted by Fred Pruitt 2002-06-10 12:05 pm|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Be concerned. It is possible one of the new neighbors brought their own Gilbert BioChemistry Terrorist Kit with them. Or they picked one up at a Russian Yard Sale during the move.

Posted by Mary Lu 2002-06-10 12:41:02|| [radio.weblogs.com/0100243/] 2002-06-10 12:41:02|| Front Page Top

#2 I thought smallpox in the wild had been wiped out. If that had been the case, the re-appearance of the disease anywhere strongly implies a man-made release of the infectious agent.

Posted by Tresho 2002-06-10 13:22:32|| 2002-06-10 13:22:32|| Front Page Top

#3 NWFP has some pretty remote areas, and since the "health care professionals" treating it are quacks and homeopaths, it could be a wild strain that's survived. It could also be that they're misdiagnosing something related. But the Gilbert BioChemistry Terrorist Kit should certainly be one of the possibilities closely examined, if only to give it a definite "no."

Posted by Fred 2002-06-10 14:41:47|| 2002-06-10 14:41:47|| Front Page Top

#4 I tend to think with MedPundit that it's a monkeypox (or one of the other similar ones). Since they aren't getting any doctors to look at it, I'm not at all confident in the diagnosis. On the other hand, the location would be handy for al Qaida and their labs.
Or it could be a wild strain. I always took that "we eradicated it" statement with a large grain of salt.
The claim should be looked into by CDC, WHO, or someone who can properly diagnose whatever it is.

Posted by Kat 2002-06-10 16:39:45|| [site-essential.com] 2002-06-10 16:39:45|| Front Page Top

#5 If you look at http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/fis/courses/lis2102/KO.WHO.case.html you'll find the WHO history of smallpox eradication. This is one of the true medical hero stories of the 20th century. I'm extremely skeptical that the illness in NWFP is smallpox. However, smallpox, especially when full-blown, is not easily mistaken for other viral exanthems. So the possibilities are 1) they're wrong 2) the WHO missed a spot (ooops) or 3) it's a non-indigenous virus brought in by someone else -- the sort of suspicions we all have. Not that I'd cry if the virus wiped out a whole bunch of jihadis, but the thought that smallpox might be reintroduced into the civilized world (e.g., not Pak-land) frightens me. The U.S. stocks of smallpox are very closely guarded and I'd be surprised if it came from there. But the Russian stocks, as I recall from news reports in the past, were less well handled. If it's monkeybox or similar weaponized virus, it's the harbinger of real problems.

What say we have a Delta team escort a couple of smart medical people into the area and take a look? This needs attention.

Regards,

Posted by Steve White 2002-06-10 19:55:52|| 2002-06-10 19:55:52|| Front Page Top

18:05 kanji
18:04 kanji
08:43 Fred
07:42 Tom Roberts
02:04 Michael
21:52 Andrew Olmsted
19:55 Steve White
17:59 RG Fulton
16:39 Kat
14:41 Fred
14:38 Fred
13:22 Tresho
13:19 Tresho
12:41 Mary Lu
10:42 Mary Lu
10:34 Mary Wehmeier