1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

Maybe there won't be any Afghans left by the time we attack...

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Ottomaton, Oct 4, 2001.

Tags:
  1. Ottomaton

    Ottomaton Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2000
    Messages:
    18,288
    Likes Received:
    13,572
    Ebola-style killer virus sweeps Afghan border
    By Tim Butcher in Quetta

    THE largest outbreak in history of a highly contagious disease that causes patients to bleed to death from every orifice was confirmed yesterday on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan.

    At least 75 people have caught the disease so far and eight have died. An isolation ward screened off by barbed wire has been set up in the Pakistani city of Quetta, and an international appeal has been launched for help.

    Evidence suggests the outbreak of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever emanates from within Afghanistan, raising fears of an epidemic if millions of refugees flee across the frontier into Pakistan.

    CCHF has similar effects to the ebola virus. Both viruses damage arteries, veins and other blood vessels and lead to the eventual collapse of major organs.

    As one doctor put it, a patient suffering from haemorrhagic fever "literally melts in front of your eyes".

    At the Fatima Jinnah Chest and General Hospital in Quetta, capital of the Pakistani province of Baluchistan, an isolation ward with eight treatment beds and two observation bays has been set up.

    Nine-year-old Ismail Sadiq lay on one of the beds yesterday, his body wracked with fever and a wad of cotton wool stuffed into each nostril to stem the bleeding.

    Outside members of his family sat anxiously in the shade of a tree. An elderly gentleman worked a string of worry beads through his fingers, but doctors had forbidden all visits.

    The only people Ismail now sees are doctors and nurses wearing the complete "barrier nursing" outfit of sterilised hairnet, mask, gloves, gown and overshoes.

    (later in the article)

    The virus is widely distributed in the blood of sheep, cattle and other mammals across eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. It can be passed to man by a species of tick, Hyalomma marginatum, common in the same areas.



    Click here for the full story


    When the article brought up Sheep as the carrier, my thoughts immediately turned to rockHEAD, and his beautiful photo of Ossama bin Laden as a possible transmission vector...
     
    #1 Ottomaton, Oct 4, 2001
  2. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2000
    Messages:
    10,018
    Likes Received:
    507
    My god! I say get the troops out of there, it's a freak show over there! I wonder if the U.S. and U.N. medical staff essentially being forced to leave had anything to do with the outbreak? I'm assuming they would probably have some kind of vaccine if it started to spread all of a sudden and so quickly.

    LOL!
     
    #2 RocksMillenium, Oct 4, 2001
  3. Nomar

    Nomar Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2000
    Messages:
    4,429
    Likes Received:
    2
    we probably put it there
     
    #3 Nomar, Oct 4, 2001
  4. dylan

    dylan Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2000
    Messages:
    1,349
    Likes Received:
    18
    Just so you know there is no vaccine against Ebola. It is a particularly nasty virus named for the river which goes through the area it was first found and has fatality rates anywhere from 30% to 70%.

    The Coming Plague has lots of info on it and other nasty bugs.
     
    #4 dylan, Oct 4, 2001
  5. kpsta

    kpsta Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2001
    Messages:
    2,654
    Likes Received:
    166
    deleted
     
    #5 kpsta, Oct 4, 2001
    Last edited: Oct 10, 2001
  6. Major

    Major Member

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 1999
    Messages:
    41,434
    Likes Received:
    15,867
    <B>I wonder if the U.S. and U.N. medical staff essentially being forced to leave had anything to do with the outbreak?</B>

    <B>we probably put it there</B>

    From the article:

    <I>Dr Akhlaq Hussain, the hospital's medical superintendent, said: "The first cases came in June. There were a number of deaths, but at first we did not know what was the cause."</I>

    It didn't have anything to do with us, unless we were messing with them in June.
     
    #6 Major, Oct 4, 2001
  7. mc mark

    mc mark Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Aug 31, 1999
    Messages:
    26,195
    Likes Received:
    468
    Or they released it unknowingly upon themselves trying to isolate it for germ warfare.
     
    #7 mc mark, Oct 4, 2001
  8. 4chuckie

    4chuckie Member

    Joined:
    Nov 12, 1999
    Messages:
    3,300
    Likes Received:
    2
    mc mark-
    I tend to agree with you there. We know there would be severe backlash in PR if we drop a virus, but it has been said that Bin Laden has experimented with chemical/germ warfare.
     
    #8 4chuckie, Oct 4, 2001
  9. HOOP-T

    HOOP-T Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2000
    Messages:
    6,053
    Likes Received:
    5
    My thoughts exactly............
     
    #9 HOOP-T, Oct 4, 2001
  10. RocksMillenium

    RocksMillenium Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 28, 2000
    Messages:
    10,018
    Likes Received:
    507
    Ouch, didn't know there wasn't any vaccine for what they were infected with. I agree with you guys, no way the U.S. drops that in there, but I like your theory mc mark that they may have been testing for germ warfare. I can see the Taliban and his sick crew testing out the warfare on his own people and it getting out of hand. If bin Laden had been planning this attack for the better part of a year I'm sure he has been testing things in the case of a retaliation.
     
    #10 RocksMillenium, Oct 4, 2001
  11. cson

    cson Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2000
    Messages:
    3,797
    Likes Received:
    29
    You really over/under estimate us. It has become public that we tried as early as '99 to finish-off Bin Laden....

    Remeber, W. said this would be fought "on several fronts, not all will make the news."



    (P.S. I'm not usually a conspiracy theorist either )
     
    #11 cson, Oct 4, 2001
  12. Major

    Major Member

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 1999
    Messages:
    41,434
    Likes Received:
    15,867
    <B>You really over/under estimate us. It has become public that we tried as early as '99 to finish-off Bin Laden.... </B>

    Like I said, <I>unless we were messing with them in June</I>. But then, why would we try to engage in Bio-warfare/experiments in Afghanistan in June? Bio-warfare is not going to help kill Bin Laden.
     
    #12 Major, Oct 4, 2001
  13. cson

    cson Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2000
    Messages:
    3,797
    Likes Received:
    29
    True, true.
     
    #13 cson, Oct 4, 2001
  14. treeman

    treeman Member

    Joined:
    Nov 27, 1999
    Messages:
    7,146
    Likes Received:
    261
    It would not surprise me at all if this was an accidental outbreak due to Al Qaeda experimentation. The CIA has been alarmed for months about an abnormally high number of dead animal carcasses (mainly sheep/goats) seen around bin Laden's camps in recent months. I had thought it was probably anthrax, but this makes even more sense...

    Osama has repeatedly threatened that he will attack us with "Ebola-like" germs if he has the chance... CCHF is apparently much easier to get a sample of than Ebola. Of course, the disease does occasionally naturally occur in the region, so it may just be a coincidence... Maybe.

    As for the notion that this was done by the US, that is ludicrous. We ended our offensive biowarfare program nearly 30 years ago, and threw the doors wide open for everyone to see. We even let the Russians in to inspect USAMRIID and other facilities during the Cold War to prove that we ended it. That is, incidentally, why we are so unprepared for a bio attack right now...
     
    #14 treeman, Oct 4, 2001
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page

Toggle Width
Style
ClutchFans Original

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Rockets Content

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now