The plague has swept through an al Qaeda terror training camp, killing 40

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2146286.ece ^ | January 18th, 2009 | ALEX WEST

[Joiseydude]

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

[stefanbatory]

i do believe that the current state is a solar minimum...am not sure of the most recent cases...but as was also said here, it only makes the news every 11 years...the infections happen here yearly...

[tbw2]

Could the deaths be a result of bioterrorism experimentation by terrorists?

[tbw2]

Maybe THEY were trying to use bioweapons.

[Polynikes]

Your right about the flea-borne miccrobes,Yersinia pestis. Its endemic in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Thats why you don’t handle dead squirrels,chipmunks etc.

[gargoyle]

...HURHURHUR, I've been taking 1000 mg tetracycline every day for 20 years, that adds up to 3 pounds,
12.000 dollars I've forked over to the pharmaceutical industry. My dog, that died 5 days ago, had only one summer 10 years ago that resulted in bad flea year. Might have been feral cats that hung out on the property. With a lifetime prescription for this, no worries about contracting Bubonic Plague...

...Death and dying from anything else is still a problem...

[DejaJude]

Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas.

Where did they pick up the rats?

[denydenydeny]

It’s easily cured with simple antibiotics.

And some flea powder wouldn't hurt as a preventative. Can you imagine how infested with fleas these people must be to have so many victims?

[Joiseydude]

Very sorry to hear that.

Very sorry to hear about your recent loss also.

[Post Toasties]

Al Qaeda is filth, trains in filth, and is being killed off by its own filthiness, both moral and physical.

[DejaJude]

Remember the story a couple of months ago where several of the guys who had hijacked a ship died after rummaging through the cargo? Wonder if there’s any connection.

Wonder if that's where they got exposed to rats.

[sheik yerbouty]

It may have been from a Syrian hamster..

[Skooz]

Freaking awesome.

[Star Traveler]

You asked — “Do they still get their 72 virgins if they die of Plague?”

As long as they say “Allahu akbar” while trying to blow themselves up trying to kill the infidel virus... LOL...

[Star Traveler]

You asked — “Where did they pick up the rats? “

Ummmm.... go to Washington DC and look in on Congress...

[tbpiper]

What a damn dirty shame.

Can't keep a straight face can ya?

[tvdog12345]

Oh, great. I’m a public school teacher in Los Angeles. If it hits here, I’m the canary in the mine that dies first.

As a public school teacher in Los Angeles, I'd think you'd have more urgent things to worry about than catching plague from your students.

[The_Reader_David]

“Could they have been experimenting with bioterrorism?”

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

I'm generally a believer in your dictum, but in the case of Al Qaeda, I'm inclined to make an exception, and go for malice as the most probable explanation.

[The_Reader_David]

I notice that the article doesn’t indicate whether the deaths were due to the bubonic or pneumonic variety.

The former would probably be just poor hygiene (after all, idolizing the seventh century as a ‘golden age’ doesn’t lend itself to modern standards of cleanliness). The later, however, would suggest an accident in a bioweapons program.

[kenavi]

It seems quite a respectable rag.

[mjp]

boo freakin hoo