The al-Qaeda Plague

[R. Richard]

The story is from the UK Sun newspaper. The plague is cheaper than bullets. Comment?

Terrorists train ... but they face invisible killer... the plague

The 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 12 million deaths. It was still killing 200 people a year until 1959. The US and Peru had four non-fatal cases in 2002.

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.

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”.

 

[DesertPirate]

Sounds like a cheap solution to me

I hope many of them travelled to every cell around

 

[voluptuary_manque]

But . . . but . . . isn't Allah supposed to protect his holy warriors? Do you suppose that instead he favors the fleas and the rats?

Buwahahahahahahaha . . .


BTW, SoCal is a breeding ground for the plague. Just ask Beechey's ground squirrels!

 

[DesertPirate]

But . . . but . . . isn't Allah supposed to protect his holy warriors? Do you suppose that instead he favors the fleas and the rats?

Buwahahahahahahaha . . .


BTW, SoCal is a breeding ground for the plague. Just ask Beechey's ground squirrels!

In NM we had the Hanta virus

 

[R. Richard]

But . . . but . . . isn't Allah supposed to protect his holy warriors? Do you suppose that instead he favors the fleas and the rats?

Buwahahahahahahaha . . .


BTW, SoCal is a breeding ground for the plague. Just ask Beechey's ground squirrels!

In fact, the West side of the Rocky Mountains is, for whatever reason, the world center for the bubonic plague. Ever year there is a case or two in rural areas. The cases aren't widely reported and are treated and cured.

I can't say about Allah, but I would definitely favor the fleas and rats over al-Qaeda.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

In fact, the West side of the Rocky Mountains is, for whatever reason, the world center for the bubonic plague. Ever year there is a case or two in rural areas. The cases aren't widely reported and are treated and cured.

I can't say about Allah, but I would definitely favor the fleas and rats over al-Qaeda.

Yup, the only problem arises when some Eastern family comes here for a vacation and someone gets fleabit and takes the infection home. Every so often there's a panic attack in a major Eastern city because the docs there simply don't expect such a Medieval disease on their watch. Out here, though, we know better! Yrsenia pestus waits. The Black Death knows . . .

 

[TE999]

Hmmm...the Black Death decimating the al-Quida ranks...what a shame...holy warriors dying horribly like so many of their victims...pity.

Biowarfare or just Mom Nature doin' her thing?

Precision targeting of rocket propelled canisters from a Predator drone or just rats and fleas?

Either way...it's a winner.

 

[john-the-author]

It's a nasty disease, without a doubt, but I'm working on a book proposal right now for a book on the coming flu pandemic.

The flu virus mutates in two ways every 7 and 13 years: the first cycle works on one part of the protein sheath to make it more virulent. It peaks every 7 years +/- 1 year. The second is the change in the protein sheath to fool the antibodies and that happens every 13 years, +/- 3 years. So, every 91 years, +/- 3 years, there's an overlap of both of those factors to create a real killer flu. The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1917-1918 was the last one, but there have been previous flu epidemics every 91 years for a few cycles that we're aware of.

The CDC and the WHO are focusing on 2009--the peak year for statistical likelihood of this starting--for a big awareness push. Apparently, it will happen, but the question is "how strong is this going to be?" If it hits as hard as they expect, then based on the stats from the last time, it's going to be very, very unpleasant.

So, my co-author (an ER doc and lecturer) and I are working on a follow-up book to tell people how best to survive all this. I mean, uh, what the hell?

(Yes, I thought my co-author was a bit of a lone nut, so I started looking into it and was rather disturbed to find out how many major organizations are working on public awareness and preparations. Urgh....)

 

[TE999]

It's a nasty disease, without a doubt, but I'm working on a book proposal right now for a book on the coming flu pandemic.

The flu virus mutates in two ways every 7 and 13 years: the first cycle works on one part of the protein sheath to make it more virulent. It peaks every 7 years +/- 1 year. The second is the change in the protein sheath to fool the antibodies and that happens every 13 years, +/- 3 years. So, every 91 years, +/- 3 years, there's an overlap of both of those factors to create a real killer flu. The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1917-1918 was the last one, but there have been previous flu epidemics every 91 years for a few cycles that we're aware of.

The CDC and the WHO are focusing on 2009--the peak year for statistical likelihood of this starting--for a big awareness push. Apparently, it will happen, but the question is "how strong is this going to be?" If it hits as hard as they expect, then based on the stats from the last time, it's going to be very, very unpleasant.

So, my co-author (an ER doc and lecturer) and I are working on a follow-up book to tell people how best to survive all this. I mean, uh, what the hell?

(Yes, I thought my co-author was a bit of a lone nut, so I started looking into it and was rather disturbed to find out how many major organizations are working on public awareness and preparations. Urgh....)

Kinda puts all this political puffery and financial frenzy into a different perspective. Fewer voters and investors could really upset the applecart.

 

[john-the-author]

Kinda puts all this political puffery and financial frenzy into a different perspective. Fewer voters and investors could really upset the applecart.

Truly. One of things we're talking about is what happens when there's a 20-25% absenteeism rate for 12-18 months in everything. (It's worse with medical personnel because of the higher exposure rate, of course.) Services of all kinds will suffer very badly. Even worse, if you have deaths--and chances are very good--you could actually lose institutional knowledge necessary to operate. Tain't gonna be good. I didn't like hearing about this.

 

[ishtat]

I read somewhere that the post first war flu epidemic hit younger people and females more severely than the elderly and very young.

In particular a disproportionate number of women of child bearing age died .Is this in fact correct?

 

[Le Jacquelope]

Hmmm...the Black Death decimating the al-Quida ranks...what a shame...holy warriors dying horribly like so many of their victims...pity.

Biowarfare or just Mom Nature doin' her thing?

Precision targeting of rocket propelled canisters from a Predator drone or just rats and fleas?

Either way...it's a winner.

Not if it spreads to innocent populations that don't have access to the proper care.

I can't help but wonder if the US Government didn't have a hand in this. It seems both convenient and suspicious that these guys were the ones hit by this disease and, as far as the article says, no one else.

 

[freshface]

Not if it spreads to innocent populations that don't have access to the proper care.

I can't help but wonder if the US Government didn't have a hand in this. It seems both convenient and suspicious that these guys were the ones hit by this disease and, as far as the article says, no one else.

It's really not that surprising. They were living in caves in a forest, which is prime territory for rodents. If those rodents were carrying both the disease and fleas, they could easily have passed the plague on to the people in the caves. The whole point of hiding in the forest is that you're away from people who might turn you in to the government, so there wouldn't have been other people around to catch it. If this group was also malnourished, they would have been much more affected by the infection. Also, plague is well documented in Algeria, so it's not like this is a new disease there.

Of course, right now this is only being reported by The Sun. If this is true, I would expect to see more authoritative reports coming from WHO. Right now, there's no way of knowing if this is even plague.

Oh, and LeJoke, this is Algeria. Innocent people would be treated with antibiotics and other medical care. Algeria's medical system is well able to take care of them. I'm sure the US did not have a hand in this. Our actions are much more direct. In Algeria, we would have told the Algerian government. Given their dislike of this terrorist group and the destabilizing affect this group has on their government, I'm sure they would have taken appropriate action. Besides, if we were going to spread this disease, we'd have gone with pneumonic. Much more lethal and doesn't require fleas to spread it.

 

[neonlyte]

Distasteful.








How would you feel about a few canisters of aerosol plaque being released at the World Series, the Republican Convention, Obamah's Inauguration?
When will people stop thinking they have the moral imperative to avenge. Smiling at the death from Plague of people who share a different ideology - you should be ashamed at yourselves! Next you'll be wanting to inject sterilizing solution in Mexican food.

A Pissed Off Will.

 

[freshface]

I read somewhere that the post first war flu epidemic hit younger people and females more severely than the elderly and very young.

In particular a disproportionate number of women of child bearing age died .Is this in fact correct?

This is true. One possible explanation is that people died because their immune systems overreacted. The very young and the older people didn't have immune systems that could overreact like this and therefore they didn't die in such large numbers. It was an unusual pandemic in a lot of ways, and this was one of them.

 

[freshface]

Distasteful.

How would you feel about a few canisters of aerosol plaque being released at the World Series, the Republican Convention, Obamah's Inauguration?
When will people stop thinking they have the moral imperative to avenge. Smiling at the death from Plague of people who share a different ideology - you should be ashamed at yourselves! Next you'll be wanting to inject sterilizing solution in Mexican food.

A Pissed Of Will.

I agree that it's horrifying to think that a civilized country could use bioweapons. But saying that al Queda simply has a different ideology is a bit of a stretch. If this story is true, I'm not at all sorry that such people are dead. They'd have no problems killing me. Since I know we didn't use bioweapons, I hope the story is true and that some of the survivors took it to other camps.

 

[neonlyte]

I agree that it's horrifying to think that a civilized country could use bioweapons. But saying that al Queda simply has a different ideology is a bit of a stretch. If this story is true, I'm not at all sorry that such people are dead. They'd have no problems killing me. Since I know we didn't use bioweapons, I hope the story is true and that some of the survivors took it to other camps.

Bio-weapons are a tool of war. They must be since they are used only by people who wage war. But I don't believe they were used in this case.

Laughing at death, no matter who died, shows a lack of morals.
Say I went to school with you, and we were not the best of friends. Laughing at the death of one of your relatives, just because you and I didn't get along, would be distasteful. I don't defend Al-Qaeda, I do defend the right to life, it is a gift and no matter how individuals choose to use the gift of life, laughing at its taking is, to me - and perhaps me alone - is distasteful.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

It's really not that surprising. They were living in caves in a forest, which is prime territory for rodents. If those rodents were carrying both the disease and fleas, they could easily have passed the plague on to the people in the caves. The whole point of hiding in the forest is that you're away from people who might turn you in to the government, so there wouldn't have been other people around to catch it. If this group was also malnourished, they would have been much more affected by the infection. Also, plague is well documented in Algeria, so it's not like this is a new disease there.

Of course, right now this is only being reported by The Sun. If this is true, I would expect to see more authoritative reports coming from WHO. Right now, there's no way of knowing if this is even plague.

Oh, and LeJoke, this is Algeria. Innocent people would be treated with antibiotics and other medical care. Algeria's medical system is well able to take care of them. I'm sure the US did not have a hand in this. Our actions are much more direct. In Algeria, we would have told the Algerian government. Given their dislike of this terrorist group and the destabilizing affect this group has on their government, I'm sure they would have taken appropriate action. Besides, if we were going to spread this disease, we'd have gone with pneumonic. Much more lethal and doesn't require fleas to spread it.

Hey shitface - why don't you take a look at a globe for once and take note that Algeria isn't the only country on the planet. This problem could spread way beyond Algeria.

I will not tolerate your ignorance or your name calling - pull that shit again and I will silence you. I've no time to put up with you acting like an idiot child.

Grow the fuck up.

 

[freshface]

Bio-weapons are a tool of war. They must be since they are used only by people who wage war. But I don't believe they were used in this case.

Laughing at death, no matter who died, shows a lack of morals.
Say I went to school with you, and we were not the best of friends. Laughing at the death of one of your relatives, just because you and I didn't get along, would be distasteful. I don't defend Al-Qaeda, I do defend the right to life, it is a gift and no matter how individuals choose to use the gift of life, laughing at its taking is, to me - and perhaps me alone - is distasteful.

I'm not laughing at their deaths, but I'm not sorry they're dead either. I think the world is a better place without them and have no doubt that they were training to kill as many people as they could.

 

[freshface]

Hey shitface - why don't you take a look at a globe for once and take note that Algeria isn't the only country on the planet. This problem could spread way beyond Algeria.

I will not tolerate your ignorance or your name calling - pull that shit again and I will silence you. I've no time to put up with you acting like an idiot child.

Grow the fuck up.

Why don't you try, just once, to use reason when you post? Plague occurs naturally in Algeria, as well as much of Asia, other parts of Africa and our own West Coast. As has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it is well controlled by antibiotics. Public Health authorities are well aware of what plague can do. It's why they work so hard to control it. I'm not all that concerned about this turning into a widespread epidemic.

As for you, you spend most of your time here acting like an ignorant child, throwing temper tantrums all over the board. How exactly do you intend to silence me?

 

[Le Jacquelope]

I agree that it's horrifying to think that a civilized country could use bioweapons. But saying that al Queda simply has a different ideology is a bit of a stretch. If this story is true, I'm not at all sorry that such people are dead. They'd have no problems killing me. Since I know we didn't use bioweapons, I hope the story is true and that some of the survivors took it to other camps.

Damn, you're so ignorant.

You really believe that this disease will only target Al Qaeda when they take it to other camps?

Are you really that dumb?

Despite all the medicine and fast response time in the world, some innocent person out there will die if they take this disease elsewhere. If anything, we should be bringing these people aid in order to help them so it doesn't spread to others. And at the same time maybe put them in prison for war crimes, too.

And no, I don't care what you think of my idea. You're not mature or intelligent enough to give an opinion. And you'd be laughing at the deaths of people from this disease if you weren't being called on it right now.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

Why don't you try, just once, to use reason when you post? Plague occurs naturally in Algeria, as well as much of Asia, other parts of Africa and our own West Coast. As has been pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it is well controlled by antibiotics. Public Health authorities are well aware of what plague can do. It's why they work so hard to control it. I'm not all that concerned about this turning into a widespread epidemic.

Wait, you're confirming what I said, and you're accusing me of not using reason?

Wait... exactly why should I even care what you define as 'reason'?

As for you, you spend most of your time here acting like an ignorant child, throwing temper tantrums all over the board. How exactly do you intend to silence me?

Oh that's easy. I can put you on ignore and rob you of this delusional fantasy that you have about your words meaning anything at all.

Speaking of tantrums, I wasn't the one attacking you - you're the idiot child who came at me first with the chip on your shoulder after you chopped yourself to pieces in that FDIC thread.

You're nothing more than a loudmouthed trash talking underachieving nobody who puffs up your ego by lashing out on the intarwebs.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

And before you start thinking that you're of any further consequence, Freshface...

freshface This user is on your Ignore List.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I mean, you just had to know JERK would be the first to collect donations to help al Qaeda.

 

[Le Jacquelope]

With the trolls out of the way, I stand pat on the concept that the black plague is NO ALLY of anyone.

It takes a really sick son of a bitch to "hail" such a disease as a "weapon in the war on terror" even if it's only being spread by nature.