Or worse, will the foreign ISIS jihadists spread it to Europe, the U.S. and the West when they return from the battlefield? Obama has agreed to admit tens of thousands of Syrian refugees into the country. How many will bring this disease with them?
Express UK (h/t Rob E) The Islamic State is facing a new enemy – being wiped out by a flesh-eating disease, according to reports. The self-declared Islamic State capital is currently in the throes of an epidemic and a number of members of the Islamic State have reportedly been infected.
Efforts are reportedly being made to prevent the further spread of the Leishmaniasis skin disease, which is highly virulent, in the IS stronghold.
Although organizations began work to combat the disease, this became impossible after IS is claimed to have closed down their city offices. They also confiscated equipment and arrested officers trying to help fight the condition which can be deadly.
The first case of the disease, which is caused by protozoan parasites, was discovered in September 2013. By the middle of 2014 500 people had been affected, according to a network of activists ‘Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently.’
The disease is spread by flies that are attracted by the rubble and rubbish of war. It can sometimes be fatal and can also cause significant damage to parts of the body it affects.
More than 2,500 cases have been recored in the north-east of Raqqa. In war-riven Aleppo, the summer heat combined with streets filled with putrid, uncollected rubbish, allowed leishmaniasis to thrive. Doctors recorded tens of thousand of cases of the tropical disease, transmitted by sand flies, that causes skin ulcers resembling leprosy.
ISIS is said to have a residual force of between 3,000 to 5,000 in the city, as they attempt to strengthen their so-called caliphate.
This comes after World Health Organization reported that Syria’s health system had collapsed, meaning that disease was spreading rapidly through a country already plagued by violence.
Alex Infohub 