Smallpox Epidemic Rapidly Spreading In Pakistan Province

Dawn.com ^ | 6/9/2002 | Muqaddam Khan

[ex-Texan]

Smallpox Epidemic Rapidly Spreading In Pakistan Province

By Muqaddam Khan

SWABI, Pakistan - The smallpox epidemic is rapidly spreading in these parts of the province, but the district health department has failed to take any step to contain this deadly disease, Dawn learnt here on Saturday.

It has been reported from different parts of the Swabi district that a large number of children have suffered from smallpox, but the authorities concerned have failed to take any action to prevent this disease or immunize the people against it.

Smallpox is a fatal disease which causes high fever, leaves permanent marks on the skin and spreads very fast. Timely treatment and precautionary measures are vital for controlling this malady.

A health official said that the dilemma of the people was that they were not aware of the danger aspects of this ailment as the children suffering from it have neither been kept in isolation nor properly treated. And this resulted in the spread of the virus.

In most of the cases, the children of a family or those living close to each other, contract it at one and the same time.

The residents of Naro Banda, a rural area in the district, told this correspondent that a majority of the children in the village had suffered from smallpox a few years back. "My two brothers, Shams and Akhtar, have been afflicted by smallpox and I have appealed to the officials concerned, but they did not bother either to visit the area or take steps for controlling it," said Mukhtaj Ahmad of Naro Banda.

The mother of a sick child said she had informed the lady health workers about the spread of the disease four days ago, but no action was taken.

It was also noticed that most of the parents of the sick children were uneducated. They had either approached the quack living nearby, or the self-made homeopath doctors to treat the children, but no visible improvement could be seen in the health of the children.

If the district health department delayed taking steps for containing the disease, the epidemic may spread to other areas in the vicinity, or the whole of the district, for that matter.

The suffering people have appealed to the NWFP governor, district government bosses and health officials to send in special teams to extend necessary health cover to the children

[Sabertooth]

If it was smallpox it had to come from one of two sources: CDC (US) or Biopreparat (Russia on an island in the Aral Sea belonging to either Kazakhstan or Uzbekistan). Considering the standing or organized crime in Russia, I don't think this an unlikely development.

Nor does the US Government, it would appear...

60 Minutes: Iraq Has Smallpox (thread 1)

60 Minutes: Iraq Has Smallpox (thread 2)
The sources were Iraqi defectors, IIRC, who claim that the smallpox virus was procured from sources in the bioweapons program in the former Soviet Union.

Other links of interest...

HHS Set to Order Smallpox Vaccine for All Americans

U.S. Sets Up Plan to Fight Smallpox

U.S. to Buy 155M Smallpox Vaccines

Others Follow U.S. on Smallpox Vaccine

(British) Bio-defense requires smallpox vaccine

Smallpox experiment goes well, U.S. expert says

New smallpox terror alert

CDC starts to fight smallpox as weapon

SMALLPOX VACCINATIONS CONSIDERED FOR ENTIRE U.S.

And Now, the Good News about Smallpox

Since last October, the CDC's smallpox vaccination program has been in high gear, with the goal of stockpiling enough vaccine for every man, woman, and child in America.

[Cicero]

Dawn is naturally prejudiced in the usual ways, but it's also usually a reasonably reliable Islamic newssheet, as far as these things go. It could be a mistranslation. It could be a mistake. It could be a Pakistani urban legend. But I trust someone is checking it out, because if true it would indeed be a huge story.

It is suspected that Russia, China, and possibly Iraq have access to smallpox. And if they do, it could certainly have spread. I can't imagine that the Chinese would be stupid enough to give their Pakistani friends smallpox bacillae. But they gave them nuclear warheads and missiles to deliver them, so anything is possible. Also there are a lot of former Russian germ warfare scientists who are at loose ends and might be bought with Arab money. The U.S. has tried to keep them employed, but there are always loose ends.

[Endeavor]

Yep. Or cowpox - that's the variant the milkmaids got and where Jenner got the idea to use scrapings of cowpox to formulate his smallpox vaccine.

[arthurus]

this would be front page headlines around the entire world.

Because there would be many deaths. Headlines would not read "Smallpox Spreading..." but rather "Smallpox deaths kills hundreds...." Chickenpox is pretty scary in a medically isolated population.

[Burr5]

Correct. It ain't on Dawn.com. What's the deal?

[EggsAckley]

Smallpox, chickenpox........whatever. The real tragedy here is that these people are not represented by any government at all. Mushareff and his ilk are spending everything on nuclear arms, while the people still live in the twelfth century. With all the money squandered by this "government," there should BE no epidemics. It just proves that they're simply not evolved enough to have nuclear capabilities.

Thought you had a dreaded project to work on.......playin' hooky??? <{;o)

[Politically Correct]

Sometimes the most startling things start out as short reports by a local reporter......

But I doubt that this guy knows what he's talking about.

[Judith Anne]

Interesting post. I read somewhere that even one CONFIRMED case of smallpox would be evidence of bioterrorism. Hope developements are in the news, regarding this.

[Sabertooth]

It HAS to be chickenpox, not smallpox.

Agreed.

Notice also that no fatalities are mentioned.

[abner]

If it truly was smallpox, this would be front page headlines around the entire world.

I seem to remember the first case of Anthrax here in this country the health officials and media tried to pass it off as the editors' trip into the woods.

This is probably Chicken Pox, but I have to say the health authorities would probably try to down play any real Smallpox outbreak.

[Burr5]

OK. Nevermind. Thanks for the direct link. I can't believe they'd bury this in the "Local" section, and I hadn't checked there.

[OReilly]

It HAS to be chickenpox, not smallpox.

I would agree that the world media and the health organizations all around the world should be indicted for stupidity if it really is, but I would not rule it out, after what we have learned about our supposed almighty powers that are responsible for our safety.

[mvonfr]

See post 18; thanks ex-Texan

[JohnBovenmyer]

Smallpox used to be a childhood disease because everyone born earlier was either immune from surviving it or had died from it. It probably last occurred there 30 years ago. Everyone born since would be susceptible, i.e. not just children would be affected by smallpox now. It probably is the historically most common misdiagnosis, chickenpox.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Well, at least we are going to fingerprint the 8,500 Middle Easterns that we allow into our country on visas every single month.

[colgin]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/697237/posts

Monkeypox today

[madfly]

The residents of Naro Banda, a rural area in the district, told this correspondent that a majority of the children in the village had suffered from smallpox a few years back. "My two brothers, Shams and Akhtar, have been afflicted by smallpox and I have appealed to the officials concerned, but they did not bother either to visit the area or take steps for controlling it," said Mukhtaj Ahmad of Naro Banda.

Yeah, duh, and this smallpox incident "a few years back" involving a MAJORITY of the children would have made headlines also.

That's all they have been talking about in regard to the shortage of syrum(sp); the fact that the disease had been TOTALLY IRADICATED a long time ago.

THIS is outrageous and scary. Fortunate timing that we finally have Homeland Security well in place and ready perhaps to send a HAZMAT TIPS information sheet to the citizens, like they issue to the military, for their safety.

< /sarcasm

[ex-Texan]

I decided to take a run over to site where I often pick up breaking news and got stopped in my tracks.

That project is so terrible I keep putting it off and putting it off and now I'm embarassed.

[Politically Correct]

Notice also that no fatalities are mentioned.

Children die so frequently in these countries that it isn't considered worth mentioning.
Usually from gastrointestinal diseases like cholera.

I wouldn't use that to discredit the report.
It's still unlikely to be smallpox....but.....

[OReilly]

I, clearly, was referring to the weaponized Anthrax that was supposed to be secured. The stuff that they are now doing Lie Detector tests on a thousand Fort Deitrick personal to find out how it could have become unsecured. By that argument, neither is Smallpox secured or securable.