Posted on 09/03/2005 12:31:41 AM PDT by Uncle Ike
Merlin, the British medical aid agency, has launched an emergency response to a suspected pneumonic plague epidemic that stemmed from a diamond mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo and has claimed at least 38 lives.
More than 1,300 people identified with symptoms including high fever and acute shortness of breath have already been treated by Merlin’s mobile medical teams working alongside local health staff across three districts of the eastern province of Maniema.
(Excerpt) Read more at alertnet.org ...
Looks right except no one is blaming Bush for this. Maybe I have been reading too much.
registered since Since Aug 20, 2005
May I be the first to congratulate your first post and welcome you to FreeRepublic.com, and to warn you that posting medical, health or science articles in the breaking news or frontpage news sidebars when they lack apparently significant political or real economic consequences or considerations can be hazardous to your posting privileges.
For general purposes for current news stories, admin and sidebar moderators should be assumed to be ignorant, lest you incur their wrath posting medical, health or science articles which can be perceived as lacking in political weight to the uninformed.
"warn you that posting medical, health or science articles in the breaking news or frontpage news sidebars when they lack apparently significant political or real economic consequences or considerations can be hazardous to your posting privileges"
I apologize if I misunderstood the "category" guidelines - this story is apparently about the spread of Pneumonic Plague from an outbreak last February, and I thought it was significant.
Admin Moderator - if I have erred, please correct my error, and I'll do better next time.
Admin Moderator - if I have erred, please correct my error, and I'll do better next time.
Please, this is current news. Please, never apologize when you did nothing wrong. I have a health & science ping list on this forum, so I learned the hard way. FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list. P.S. Folks near the Gulf Coast need help. God bless Texas hospitality!
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble....
38 dead already in the Congo, and 1300+ reported with symptoms. Oh, the humanity, but fortunately for them they weren't in New Orleans where the death and disease toll will be much, much higher.
No, New Orleans merely has dysentary...and remember, finger pointing is easy. Have YOU donated to the Red Cross? Taken up a collection of blankets and food and given them to shelters in Baton Rouge (remember: Roads in N.O. were impassable...and the National Guard is usually mobilized at the state level, so don't give me any Bush bashing)...
Pneumonic plague can easily be diagnosed by sputum smear, even in such areas...and even in the middle ages masks gave some protection. Since pneumonic plague ususally is widespread only in closed areas, why so many people? I mean, were they in barracks or refugee camps? In an airport of crowded school classroom? It doesn't make sense...Africans spend most of their time outdoors except at night...
But in the USA, only Indian Health Service docs on the Navajo reservations see a lot of plague...
and I worked with the Apaches, not Navajo...
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