Posted on 10/09/2013 9:22:47 PM PDT by Steelfish
Virus Hangs Over Islamic Pilgrimage To Mecca
Health officials in the U.S. will be on the alert for anyone returning from the Middle East with symptoms of MERS, a mysterious and potentially deadly illness.
Laila Shifa, left, helps her daughter, Homaira Hamid, center, and husband Jahan pack in their Northridge apartment for their hajj pilgrimage. The couple are bringing face masks to help guard against the MERS virus, which has been detected in the Middle East.
By Eryn Brown October 9 After they got married last year, Homaira and Jahan Hamid decided they would embark on the hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia "as soon as possible," before parental duties began to crowd out their religious obligations.
When the Northridge couple discovered that a mysterious and sometimes deadly virus had emerged in the desert kingdom, killing more than 40% of the people it was known to have infected, they briefly reconsidered.
The hajj which every able Muslim must attend at least once in their lives annually draws to Mecca as many as 3 million people, all gathered together. Last Friday, the Hamids boarded a long-planned flight to the region, stowing surgical face masks and vitamins along with their clothing and other essentials.
"We're just kind of hoping for the best," Homaira Hamid said.
That's a sentiment shared by pilgrims and public health officials alike, who say they will stay vigilant over the next month or so as people return home from the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Severe coughs or flu-like symptoms could be a sign of infection with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, or MERS-CoV,...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Islam is a virus.
You beat me to the punch, Mary Wells, 1962. True, it is a virus and more than that, a false religion enslaving 1.5 billion people to perdition.
Obviously an Israeli plot. /sarc
We could only hope as much
No sarcasm intended.
While horrible in one sense I might find the quick death or even just loss of ability to reproduce of a large part of the Muslim world to be a beneficial thing
Absolutely true. islam is a disease.. and a false religion.
Inshallah...
I think it demonstrates that He knew what He was doing when He invented natural selection.
In spite of my profound apprehension about Islam as a way of life or worship, I would not wish a full blown MRSA attack on anybody, not one living soul, because they are still human beings. I have seen it, though very briefly. This couple needs to just wait about two years then go. Chances are that each would feel nervous guilt about changing their minds now.
This is only the latest reason why a moratorium on middle east immigration would make sense, but, we have already spun that record before.
Swine flu!
I wonder if catching swine flu would make muzzlems permanently unclean and this would cause them to not able receive their eternal reward with allah.
I was just rehashing a script storyline about an engineered nano virus that activates the third time a body is on its knees praying, at that point the person becomes a living statue, conscious and aware but completely immobile, cannot move cannot talk and within hours dies.
( ) Care (X) Not care
Their moon god wants to kill them...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.