Link for the above

link

I am going to keep trying to get one that works

 

IF this is true - and you have to take The Sun with  a large grain of salt - teh poetic justice and irony is delicious.  A bunch of people wanting to turn back to the Middle Ages being felled by a Middle Ages plague.

 

 

swhitebull - Bring out your dead!!   Bring out your dead!   Here's one.  He's still living.  WHAM!!  NO he isnt!

I remember discussing, a while back, devil's-advocate stylee, use of biowarfare in the NWFP.  But I didn't expect OBL & Co. to volunteer to help out!  Thanks, guys!

 

MMMmuuuaAhahahahahhahahahahahhahahhahaha...

Nobody seems to know yet whether it is Pneumonic plague (spread by coughing) or Bubonic plague (spread by rodent fleas). 

 

This could be critical, especially if, as speculated, it has been passed on to the camps in Afghanistan / Pakistan.  Given the that it is less than a week from infection to obvious symptoms this would also imply that there is either fairly rapid travel between the areas, or they are dealing with the Pneumonic form and it passed through a series of infected individuals.

 

Unless this is a false alarm, it could get verrry interesting.

Definitely potential to screw Pakistan bigtime, since that is there the hirabists go for R&R, etc.  Much higher pop. density in Pak than AF.  Now could this work for us or against us?  Antibiotics cure plague, right?  So we should be fine.  India has big pharma plants so probably fine.  Where would NWFP plague spread to?

 

I mean, Miller time!

Depends:

 

If it is the pneumonic form, then it is 90% fatal in 48 hours unless promptly treated in a hospital as soon as symptoms appear (Antibiotics are the primary treatment, but supportive therapy is frequently required as well).  The initial symptoms closely resemble the flu.  Since it is the middle of winter there is a lot of the flu going around too, which will make it even scarier, and may help the plague transition to the pneumonic form if it has not already.

 

The terrorists have almost no medical facilities and one of the concerns of their leadership is that large numbers may turn themselves in / surrender to get access to treatment (which many may not need).  It will also get much harder for traveling strangers and known terrorists to get temporary shelter in villages.

 

If the disease becomes a pandemic in the area then al-Qaeda and the Taliban will have to shutdown operations until it over.  One of the time honored methods for trying to avoid disease is to hunker down, seal the compound gates and shoot anyone who approaches.  In addition, the only group capable of handling the logistics for large scale treatment are the military, so the local population will most likely declare them 'off limits' like deminers until it is over.

 

If everyone cooperates, the worst would be over by spring.  If not, it could go on for years like the tuberculoses outbreak.

While I wouldn't mind the black death and the accompaning paranoia sweeping through AQ's ranks.  This post appeared before the sun ran the story up the flag pole.  LINK  Back track from this story for what was more likely to be the vector.  All the same, too bad.

So what you're saying is, this plague needs our help to spread and flourish!  I trust our lab boys have the necessary samples, feedstocks, etc. 

 

Now how do we spread it?  Infect a bunch of prisoners and then release them to run home?

 

C'mon, peeps, let's get creative.  Do it to them before they do it to us.  In fact, all they would have to do to take a run at us with the plague is to buy their sick folks a bunch of plane tickets to London, Paris, NYC, right?

 

Hey - let's put it in the HVAC systems of airliners flying to Pakistan!

 

 

 

 

Oh, yeah, that would be wrong and all.  SRY!  But a man can dream.  And after all, they can get treatment, just lay down their AKs and RPGs, hands up, march to the nearest outpost - what's the Pashto for "Kamerad?"  Or should it be Dari?  I can never recall...

I guess we'll find out when spec ops units and uavs start reporting lots of dead bodies in groups with not sign of

combat.