FIRE-EARTH Alert: NF

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FIRE-EARTH Alert: Necrotising Fasciitis (NF)

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“New ‘Flesh-Eating’ Disease Spreading Across Syria and the Middle East”

Cases of Leishmaniasis up from 23,000 before the war to 41,000 in 2013: Syrian Ministry of Health

The disease is spreading across Syria, with cases also reported in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey, according to reports.

“Between 2000 and 2012, there were only six reported cases of the disease in Lebanon.”

However, in 2013 alone, some 1,033 cases were reported in Southern Lebanon, of which 96 per cent occurred among the displaced Syrian refugees, the Lebanese Ministry of Health has said.

Refugee settlements in Nizip, southern Turkey, have reported several hundred cases of the disease.

Speaking to Mail Online, Dr Waleed Al-Salem, one of the authors of the research was carried out in the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: ‘It’s a very bad situation. The disease has spread dramatically in Syria, but also into countries like Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and even into southern Europe with refugees coming in.

‘There are thousands of cases in the region but it is still underestimated because no one can count the exact number of people affected.

‘When people are bitten by a sand-fly – which are tiny and smaller than a mosquito – it can take anything between two to six months to have the infection.

‘So someone might have picked it up in Syria but then they may have fled into Lebanon or Turkey, oreven into Europe as they seek refuge.

‘Prior to the outbreak of war there was good control of diseases, parasites and sand flies but when the conflict started no one cared, conditions worsened and the health system broke down, which has created an ideal environment for disease outbreaks.’

Of course, it wasn’t that “no one cared.” It was that no one was able to provide adequate care because the United States, Israel, the GCC, and NATO had overrun the country with savage terrorists and destroyed the infrastructure, not to mention the Western sanctions imposed upon the country which, alone, would have made it difficult to treat.

Outbreak of Flesh-eating Disease Plagues Daesh-controlled Parts of Syria

Daesh imposes death sentence on occupied communities

The potentially deadly “flesh-eating” disease named leishmaniasis is rapidly spreading in Syria, caused by the sand flies feeding on the corpses dumped in the streets by Daesh (aka, ISIS, ISIL), the head of the Kurdish Red Crescent told Rudaw news.

“As a result of abominable acts by ISIS that included the killing of innocent people and dumping their corpses in streets, this is the leading factor behind the rapid spread of Leishmanisis disease,” said Dilqash Isa.

Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease that is caused by infection with Leishmania parasites, which are spread by the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. There are several different forms of leishmaniasis in people. The most common forms are cutaneous leishmaniasis, which causes skin sores, and visceral leishmaniasis, which affects several internal organs (usually spleen, liver, and bone marrow), according to CDC.

The sand flies that transmit the parasite are only about one third the size of typical mosquitoes or even smaller.

“Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in many of the poorest countries of all continents. “Aleppo boil” is one of the recognised names given to this disease in the medical literature. Although CL used to be well-controlled and well-documented in Syria, its incidence has dramatically increased since the beginning of the war,” said a report.

“Currently, an outbreak has been observed due to the war in Syria and the lack of measures to combat the disease, particularly in the besieged and medically underserved areas. New publications from the Ministry of Health reveal shocking statistics. There was an incidence rate of 53,000 cases in 2012 and 41,000 cases were reported in the first 2 quarters of 2013 (13). According to a recent telephone conversation with the head of the Leishmaniasis Centre in Aleppo (Dr. Ahmad Jatal, personal communication), 22,365 cases were reported in the previous year in Aleppo alone.”

Sores caused by leishmaniasis. Source: Rudaw

Leishmaniasis Association in Syria

The symptoms of leishmaniasis are skin sores which erupt weeks to months after the person affected is bitten by sand flies. Other consequences, which can manifest anywhere from a few months to years after infection, include fever, damage to the spleen and liver, and anemia.

[Honey, smile for uncle Salman, cousin Obama and his family. —Editor]

Girl affected by lieshmaniasis. Photo taken in Ferdaws area of Aleppo by Syrian American Kenan Rahmani (via Rudaw).

 

States of Emergency Declared in Flooded Ontario Towns

Extensive flooding due to torrential rain prompts Ontario towns to declare states of emergency

The City of Thunder Bay, Conmee Township and the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge in northwestern Ontario, Canada have declared states of emergency following severe flooding due to extreme rain events.

Flooding has forced the authorities to close down dozens of schools in Thunder Bay area, reports said.

Up to 108mm of rain have been recorded by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority over the last 24 to 36 hours, with the  highest amounts logged in Thunder Bay and Oliver Paipoonge.

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• New Zealand.  It’s been revealed that kiwifruit growers in New Zealand illegally inject their crops with the powerful antibiotic streptomycin to stop the spread of PSA bacteria.
  • The illegal use of streptomycin can create antibiotic-resistant bacteria, according to toxicology experts.
  • Streptomycin is a bactericidal antibiotic and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis (TB).
  • In 2009, New Zealand researchers revealed that cases of necrotizing fasciitis in“flesh-eating” disease had surged by 300 percent since 1990.
  • Since about 1999, another serious form of monomicrobial necrotizing fasciitis,  the methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacterium has struck with increasing frequency.
  • See also: Superbugs Invasion Has Begun

• Cyber world. Massive cyber-attack discovered

• Qatar. A large fire at a shopping mall in Doha, capital of the Saudi satellite state of Qatar, has killed at least 19 people, including 13 toddlers, and left more than 17 others injured, including 4 children.
  • The victims included Spanish, French, Filipino and two-year-old New Zealand triplets.

• North Korea. A severe drought is threatening food shortages in North Korea, which has received little rain since late April.

• Bologna, Italy.  A shallow earthquake measuring 5.8Mw struck Emilia Romagna region, 40 km (24 miles) NNW of Bologna, northern Italy, killing at least 10 people.
  • [Death toll is expected to rise because an unknown number of people are trapped under the rubble, police said.]
  • The quake was centered at 44.814°N, 11.079°E and struck at a depth of about 9.6 km (6 miles) on May 29, 2012 at 07:00 UTC, USGS/EHP reported.
  • The quake also caused structural damage, toppling a tower in San Felice sul Panaro, Italian media reported.
  • The quake was followed by at least three aftershocks, and the tremors were felt throughout northern Italy, including Milan, the financial capital.
  • The quake was the second significant shock to strike the region since May 20. The 6.0Mw quake earlier this month killed at least 7 people, injured dozens, destroyed hundreds of buildings and left about 5,000 people homeless.
  • See also: Italy Declares State of Emergency in EQ Zone Posted on May 23, 2012

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Wildfire Weather

Two dozen large wildfires burning in Mongolia’s forests and steppes

At least 130 large wildfires have consumed thousands of acres of Mongolian forests and steppes so far this year.

Fire weather conditions throughout the vast and sparsely populated country have been worsened by a severe drought this spring.

In April, the blazes spread across the Chinese border and into China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, prompting the authorities to mobilize thousands of “Chinese forest policemen” to fight the fires, a report said.

The Mongolian government said should the situation further worsen the  country would ask China and Russia to help fight the the fires.

Other Wildfires

Enhanced fire weather conditions prevail in the Desert Southwest and the Central Plains: NWS

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• South Carolina, USA.  Another victim of necrotizing fasciitis bacteria has been identified as Barry Ginn, a Hilton Head Island resident.
  • In February, Ginn had severe pain in his shoulder and a fever, which was later diagnosed as the “flesh-eating disease.”  Three doctors removed most of his upper shoulder and a large portion of his upper arm during nine surgeries over four days, said a report.

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

Arizona Attacked by Wildfires

At least 4 major blazes consume 90 km² of central and eastern AZ forest, brush and chaparral

The Sunflower Fire, the largest of AZ blazes, has consumed 70km² in the Tonto National Forest, about 65km north of Phoenix, fire officials reported.

Up to 350 residents of Crown King in central Arizona remain under evacuation orders after a large blaze, the Gladiator Fire, consumed about 25 sq km of Prescott National Forest and destroyed a dozen structures.

See also:

• U.S. Wildfires – June 21 Update Posted on June 21, 2011
• Arizona Wildfires Update – June 19 Posted on June 19, 2011

Other Global Disasters, Significant Events

• Colorado. A wildfire northwest of Fort Collins, northern Colorado, has consumed about 1,200  acres and is fast growing. The fire was less than 5 percent contained, as of posting.
  • “Two groups of residents have received notices to be prepared for possible evacuations, but no one has had to leave. The fire is within a quarter mile of some homes,” a report said.
• The Rocky Mountains, USA. The white-nose bat syndrome, a disease that has killed at least 5.5 million hibernating bats in hundreds of colonies across 19 U.S. states is now spreading westward, the U.S. Forest Service reported.
  • The deadly disease was first detected in New York in 2006, the USGS reported.

• The Midwest, U.S.  The number of extreme rain events, rainstorms that dump at least 3 inches of rain in 24hrs, have doubled in the U.S. Midwest between 1961 and 2011, a report said.

• Manitoba, Canada. A large wildfire in Sandilands Provincial Park has consumed about 5,300 hectares of pine forest since the weekend and prompted the authorities in the RM of Piney to issue an evacuation order.

• South Carolina, USA.The second reported victim of necrotizing fasciitis bacteria, commonly known as the flesh-eating disease, is a 36-year-old mother from South Carolina.
  • Lana Kuykendall noticed a dark spot on the back of her left leg soon after giving birth to twins last week, AP reported.
  • Two weeks, a Georgia woman, was diagnosed with the same type of infection.
    • “Aimee Copeland, 24, of Gwinnett County was injured May 1 when she fell from a zip line into the Little Tallapoosa River. The fall onto rocks caused a deep gash in her leg,” a report said.
    • Miss Copeland lost a leg and could lose all her fingers from the infection which has since spread, doctors have said.

Necrotizing Fasciitis.  Much more commonly known as flesh-eating bacteria, necrotizing fasciitis is the bacterial infection of the underlying connective tissue, or fascia. It can be caused by streptococcous A, vibrio vulnificus, clostridium perfringens, and bacteroides fragilis, with strep A being the most common by far. These bacteria will often penetrate a deep wound, and can occur due to animal bites or swimming in unclean water. The symptoms will begin with itchiness that will proceed to discoloration, swelling and pain as the underlying tissue dies. Eventually the skin will blister out and ooze significant blood and pus. The infection spreads very rapidly. Source: Brown University.

• See also: “Flesh Eating Bacteria” Linked to NSAIDs

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar