Posted on 06/09/2002 1:29:09 PM PDT by 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
You don't need to, it's a virus (tiny). To weaponize it, you would work on culturing more virulent strains and developing better areosolization methods. Or just buy a vial from a lab tech from the USSR.
Some rural area in Pakistan would be a good place to conduct a field trial, IMHO. But no, people like Tommy Tompsom have told us we have nothing to fear, and he has everything under control.
"The incubation period for smallpox ranges from 7-to-17 days (usually 12-to-14 days), which is relatively long for a viral illness. Initial symptoms consist of high fevers, malaise, headache, and backache, followed by the appearance of small raised red spots (maculopapular rash) that begin inside the mouth and on the face and forearms, then spread sequentially to the legs and trunk. The skin lesions evolve into small blisters, then pustules. Scabs develop, which eventually separate, leaving pitted scars. In its early stages, the rash may resemble that of chickenpox, with two key differences. (1) In smallpox, the lesions are densest on the face and outermost extremities, whereas in varicella, the greatest number of lesions are on the trunk. (2) In smallpox, all lesions are at the same stage of development, whereas in varicella, the lesions are at different stages of evolution, i.e. some may be blisters while others are scabbing."
I sure hope someone has spent some time and money thinking about how easy it would be to let an aerosol of orthopoxvirus get sucked into the air return at a Hub like Atlanta and then wait 12 days for the widely distributed Marys to have done their job.
Anyone wearing a veil in an airport and coughing like on that TV commercial for some investment firm "Take a sickday pal" can expect a cool reception from me.
This report from dawn.com is unlikely to be correct. A reporter is simply parroting a story from a villager. No physicians appear to be involved in the story. This appears to really be an attempt to get the Pakistani government to mobilize some public health support to this area.
It is unlikely that it is smallpox. The report describes two brothers having "smallpox" several "years" ago. If that was the case, then wild type small pox would exist and be transmitted in Pakistan for the last several years. There should be hundreds of cases identified by Pakistani WHO workers.
If this is a case of smallpox, the WHO failed to do their job (monitoring for infectious diseases in the third world).
When i saw the headline of this article i was about to panic and go into hysterics...however i sat down and wondered 'how come this thing was not breaking news?' Think about it...the re-emergence of small pox as an epidemic would probably be the biggest news event in almost two decades due to the severe ramifications!
That is when i disregarded the article as fake!
When did you observe this case of SmallPox in the Afghan region? And were you certain it was the actual virus, not some less malignant smallpox wannabe dudu!
The reason i ask is if you saw the case anytime after the late seventies then that is very dire indeed.
I would appreciate if you told me that you were absolutely sure of what you saw! Very appreciative!
Scenario #2 Someone finds report in local section of Pakistani paper, CDC notified, CDC on plane _right now_ checking situation out. Noone allowed to report on situation till confirmation confirmationally confirmed.
Scenario #3 Big Government Conspiracy Coverup.
I understand why CDC personnel would not comment further till more information available. But if this is such a disaster in the making, one would think that Dawn, the largest English language paper in Pakistan, would be deluged with questions and would have the good grace to say something in the interim.
It is Monday night over there and not a word on the web site. This must have been reported before and found to be nothing by those who would have investigated it.
Just heard about this on Alex Jones' show. Would they tell us on the front page?
SWABI: Smallpox epidemic spreading in Swabi
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