[Sweet_Sunflower29]

OK now folks, something smells here. While I have a difficult time accepting that 'smallpox' has been misidentified as something as benign as chickenpox, measels, or whatever *numerous times* now, I'll freely admit that little anymore shocks me, and this could be nothing more then sunburn or something.

My concern is the LACK of confirmation one way or another by any reputable organization I guess.

A year ago, the idea of anyone hijacking and then using passenger jets as missles was nothing more then the opening chapter in a Tom Clancy novel. Ditto inhilation anthrax. Remember how staunchly the CDC insisted that the initial cases were caused by 'drinking from a stream', 'working in a garden' and 'hiking in the mountains'? This could possibly be another unprecidented incident that we are seeing with these supposed smallpox cases.

I just don't know how the CDC et all. can think that claims of SP like this can all be swept under a rug and blindly accepted as nothing more then a confusion of terms without more and more citizens demanding to know what is going on. People want to see action, see test results and be kept informed as to what is going on. The 'informing' process withOUT seeing any action or diagnostic proof is unsetteling, and while some may take it as truth, the numbers of those who don't are increasing as more and more delve deeper into these ideas.


rant for the day finished/>

[Mitchell]

My concern is the LACK of confirmation one way or another by any reputable organization I guess.

Agreed.

I just don't know how the CDC et all. can think that claims of SP like this can all be swept under a rug and blindly accepted as nothing more then a confusion of terms....

I don't think the CDC has even said this much, have they? I don't think they've responded at all, not even with a statement saying that these incidents were a confusion of smallpox with other diseases.

On the other hand, I'm not aware of a single report from a medical doctor in India or Pakistan including a diagnosis of smallpox (or a related orthopox virus). A lay person is simply not qualified to make such a diagnosis (especially when you consider that the villagers generally have little education and do not much available in the way of reference books). There's also the language translation problem in these reports.

If this were smallpox, some local physician in a nearby bigger town would certainly take an interest, and we'd hear about it. Moreover, the absence of reported deaths and the fact that the outbreak seems to be limited primarily to children seem to imply that this is not smallpox. I suppose it could be camelpox or something like that, but the best guess is probably still measles.

[Cascadians]

There are also reports of "smallpox" "outbreaks" in India:

Three die from Smallpox fury in Barachatti Village

[hlth] Shift in U.S. Smallpox Vaccination Policy Recommended (2 pages, and many other threads with breaking smallpox news on TimeBomb2000 Forum

" Three die from Smallpox fury in Barachatti Village

Barachatti 4 June, (Dainik Jagran). In Patiauna village of Vinda Council in Barachatti block a dreadful outbreak of smallpox is raging. Due to the smallpox so far three children have died and about a dozen children are in its grip. So far in order to treat and cure the smallpox so far no steps have been taken by the medical department due to which the villagers are angry.

Gaya District Equality [Party] chairman Indradev Pasvan has asked the DM to not delay in distributing appropriate medications to the effected children and asked for suitable measures to be taken for protection from this sickness, so that the remaining children may be saved. Mr Paswan said that if this sickness was not quickly brought under control then it might turn into an epidemic."