Black Death Plague

[Charsee]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2146286.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News

At least 40 al-Qaeda fanatics died horribly after being struck down with the disease that devastated Europe in the Middle Ages.



http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00712/Plague_380x529_712060a.jpgEpidemic ... 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.


http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00711/SNN1909B_380_711921a.jpg

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?.

[Charsee]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...-RSS&ATTR=News (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2146286.ece?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News)

30,000 in London dead

BLACK Death is believed to have started in Asia and then spread across Europe during the 14th century with plague rats reaching Britain in 1348.

The last outbreak in 1665 claimed the lives of 30,000 Londoners.

Nowadays the plague can be treated with antibiotics and deaths are rare. It has become virtually unheard of in the developed world.

But the World Health Organisation still reports several thousand cases a year, mainly in southern Asia, southern Africa and central America.

Between 1989 and 2003 there were more than 38,000 cases ? causing 2,845 deaths ? in 25 countries. The last known major outbreak started in China?s Yunan Province in 1865.

Fleas on rats spread the plague to neighbouring India, causing 12million deaths. It was still killing 200 people a year until 1959. The US and Peru had four non-fatal cases in 2002.

[jocarte]

Could this reach the US?

[Alma the Younger]

40 Terrorist are dead? Wow, I just can't express my feelings...

Yes I can, Good, Thank Heavens and I wish it were 4000!

419!

[ghostcat]

Could this reach the US?
It doesn't need to, it's already here. We have 10 to 20 cases each year in the U.S. Fortunately as is stated in the article most strains are easily treated with modern antibiotics. More info: http://www.nps.gov/public_health/inter/info/factsheets/fs_plague.htm

[Charsee]

bump

[Buffie]

A child died of plague in (I believe) New Mexico 2-3 weeks ago and a sibling also contracted the disease. There are usually a few cases in America every year but not something we should worry about. Years ago (10? 15?) there was a great National Geographic article about plague and it discussed American outbreaks. The biggest problem here is that doctors don't recognize the disease, especially if they're not in one of those areas of the country where it occurs regularly. If I remember correctly, the story mentioned a child who was in New Mexico on vacation and showed symptoms when she returned to Chicago. The doctors there, of course, weren't on the alert for it. A friend of mine who hiked and camped in Arizona and New Mexico said her group was told to be alert for flu-like symptoms and if any appeared, to tell the doctors they'd been in a plague area. I have a sneaky suspicion those terrorists weren't exactly sanitary, resulting in rats and fleas. Mediaeval English buildings used to put rushes (dried grass, herbs) on the floor and clean it up every year or so. No wonder they had rats.

[rhiamom]

Ah, good old Yersinia Pestis. I wonder how long the vaccination lasts? I had it over 30 years ago, courtesy of the US military.

The bubonic plague is indeed a terrible disease. The old nursery rhyme "ring around the rosy" is about it. The flowers in their pockets were to avoid the stench, as they believed in the miasma theory of disease back then.

[WolfBrother]

It doesn't need to, it's already here. We have 10 to 20 cases each year in the U.S. Fortunately as is stated in the article most strains are easily treated with modern antibiotics. More info: http://www.nps.gov/public_health/inter/info/factsheets/fs_plague.htm

I receive several daily ProMED digests. (reports of disease whether human, animal, or plant - world wide). Every month or so there is a Plague report made for the US. Generally in one of the two areas noted below.

There appears to be a West Texas/New Mexico/Colorado area and a Utah/Nevada/Arizona/Colorado area of endemic plague. Two separate areas that share one state. However it's the far West and far East parts of Colorado - plains areas.

The plague branches out from these areas when the weather has been good enough/long enough for prairie dogs, mice, and other small critters like that to reproduce enough to produce very large dense populations.

Fleas bite infected critters. The disease process fixes the flea so that it doesn't absorb nutrients/calories from it's food. The then hungrier and hungrier flea then bites/infects as much as it can trying to get fed.

SO - out in the wild - a flea bite can be the precursor to the Plague.

It is treatable by antibiotics. In a SHTF situation - that will be a problem. So sanitary controls are important and significant care must be exercised in handling dead game.

[signseeker]

And stock up on bug spray?

[Baconator]

It's all around me. I feed squirrels in my backyard. I may have to <a href="http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2869&Itemid=1016">rethink</a> that.

[ghostcat]

Fears that Fido has fleas are unfounded

Deseret News (Salt Lake City) (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/), Aug 1, 2005 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20050801/) by Amelia Nielson-Stowell Deseret Morning News (http://findarticles.com/p/search/?qa=Amelia%20Nielson-Stowell%20Deseret%20Morning%20News)


Although a wet winter and humid temperatures are causing a record number of fleas across the nation, Utah remains relatively bite- free.

The big problem, vets and groomers say: owners misidentifying the blood-sucking parasites.

"We see a lot of people (bring pets) in with parasitic conditions, which is itchy skin, and they feel that it's fleas," said Dr. Britt Hosken at Olympus Cove Veterinary Clinic. He said from national commercials, advertisements and other media outlets, the public assumes any itching on a dog or cat is a flea problem. "That's where we get our biggest confusion."

A dog or cat might be itching because of allergies, he said. About 70 to 80 percent of cases he sees where an animal is itching relate to a food allergen. Dr. Anthea Schick at the Dermatology Clinic for Animals in Salt Lake says 90 percent of itchy pet cases she sees are because of allergies.

"Fleas are a really common thing to think about when your dog is itchy," she said. "It's actually pretty uncommon."

The insects are particularly rare in Utah, where dry, arid weather and high altitude are not the ideal conditions for them. Fleas like a humid, warm environment. Although states such as Utah, Arizona and Nevada are virtually flea-free, Schick said, areas such as San Diego and San Jose in California are having huge flea problems.

Numerous local groomers said it's rare to see a flea on man's best friend or feline that has been in Utah.

"Fleas aren't prevalent in Utah," said Julia Rodgers of A & A Julia's Grooming in West Jordan. "We're really lucky that way."

A common way Utah pets do get fleas, said Dr. Keith Lund with White Pine Veterinary Clinic in Park City, is if a pet comes from or travels to another state. Some groomers say this is common in show dogs. But there is no need to lock your pet up all summer.

"All these toxic sprays and dips we used in the '70s and '80s . . . are a thing of the past," Lund said. "It's pretty amazing to see the advancement."

Modern flea products have revolutionized the way pets are treated, eliminating the need for harmful pesticides. Rather than using over-the-counter products, vets say prescription flea control such as Frontline, Advantage and Revolution are the best way to treat a pet. These topical treatments require a once-a-month drop between the animal's shoulder blades.

Schick recommends that owners with numerous animals, especially cats, treat all their pets for fleas if one is found to have them. The parasites reproduce rapidly. By regularly vacuuming and than throwing away filled vacuum bags, aggressive fleas can be stopped.

Properly identifying fleas can save a pet owner time and money. Schick recommends getting a flea comb and start searching your pet's skin in sensitive, thin-skinned areas. Although fleas and larva are hard to locate, the feces are easier to find, she said. The excrement is digested blood and looks like dirt. By moistening the material and smearing it on a paper towel, you can identify if it is actual dirt or feces. If the smear is red, the pet has fleas.

While risks are high for not treating a pet with fleas, like diseases, anemia or parasitic conditions for a pet and an infestation on humans, Hosken said once the fleas are gone, he recommends stopping the treatment.

"Some recommend using products on a year-round basis, but that's not my approach," he said. "They're not inexpensive products."

If you think you find a flea in your home, Hosken recommends that it be captured, put on an adhesive tape and brought to a vet for identification.

"They're highly visible and they crawl real rapidly," he said.


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