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Polio Causes Global Health Emergency

Posted by Soulskill on from the polio-2:-the-revenge dept.

mdsolar (1045926) sends this news from Bloomberg: "The spread of polio to countries previously considered free of the crippling disease is a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said, as the virus once driven to the brink of extinction mounts a comeback. Pakistan, Cameroon and Syria pose the greatest risk of exporting the virus to other countries, and should ensure that residents have been vaccinated before they travel, the Geneva-based WHO said in a statement today after a meeting of its emergency committee. It's only the second time the United Nations agency has declared a public health emergency of international concern, after the 2009 influenza pandemic. Polio has resurged as military conflicts from Sudan to Pakistan disrupt vaccination campaigns, giving the virus a toehold. The number of cases reached a record low of 223 globally in 2012 and jumped to 417 last year, according to the WHO. There have been 74 cases this year, including 59 in Pakistan, during what is usually polio's 'low season,' the WHO said. "

2 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Any slap on the wrist for the CIA? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd advocate the 'poetic justice' approach myself.

    A nice relaxing life sentence inside an iron lung would give the responsible parties plenty of time to think over the fact that the CIA's most serious targets, much less its biggest successfully averted incidents, are total chickenshit compared to what public health people (along with contemporary sanitation infrastructure) work to keep at bay.

  2. Re:Any slap on the wrist for the CIA? by Uberbah · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They are like foolish children compared to educated Westerners who didn't grow up immersed in violent fundamentalist nutjobbery. Or perhaps they're closer to mentally ill.

    Lets see how sensible the Christianists are after their lives, land and countries have been fucked with for a century by Muslim Imperialism. After the state-run oil companies in Venezuela and Iran get together and overthrow the governments of the U.K. and the United States. After the Revolutionary Guard spends 15 years threatening the United States with total obliteration if it made use of a nuclear weapons program that it says does not exist. And says crippling sanctions that killed 5,000,000 kids in the U.S. (adjusted for population) was worth it.

    But I don't expect that partial list to make a dent in the cognitive dissonance in all the Bill Maher's running around in the comments.