Syria Sees Outbreak Of Skin Disease
The Syrian refugee crisis has precipitated a “catastrophic outbreak” of a flesh-eating disease that is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, according to research published in the scientific journal PLOS.
Largely missing from news media coverage is that the same news-making scientific report warned that the ongoing violence in Syria has “created a setting in which we have seen the re-emergence of polio and measles, as well as tuberculosis, hepatitis A, and other infections in Syria and among displaced Syrian refugees.”
Leishmaniasis is a disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is spread almost entirely by sandflies, including those present in the U.S. There are three main types of the disease: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis.
Cutaneous is the most common form among Syrians. It manifests in skin sores that typically develop within a few weeks or months from a sand fly bite. The sores can initially appear as bumps or nodules and may evolve into volcano-like ulcers.
Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis causes skin ulcers like the cutaneous form, as well as mucosal ulcers that usually damage the nose and mouth.
Visceral leishmaniasis, which has also been found among Syrian refugees, is the most serious form and can be fatal. It damages internal organs, usually the spleen and liver, and also affects bone marrow.
Refugees who enter the U.S. must undergo medical screening according to protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Each refugee must submit to a physical examination, including a skin test and possibly a chest x-ray to check for tuberculosis, as well as a blood test for syphilis.
The blood tests do not currently look for leishmaniasis. Clearly, an attending doctor could easily spot a patient with obvious skin ulcers. However, leishmaniasis cannot be detected upon physical examination if the patient is asymptomatic, as can be the case with people with leishmaniasis for years.
Dr. Heather Burke, an epidemiologist from the CDC’s Immigrant, Refugee, and Migrant Health Branch, explained to this reporter that there is generally a window of three to six months from the initial physical examination until a refugee departs for the U.S.
She said a medical examination is valid for six months, and explained that patients undergo a second examination just prior to departure – a quicker “fitness to fly” screening. While she conceded that this final examination is not thorough, she said it would pick up any visible skin lesions. Burke told Breitbart Jerusalem that she is not aware of a single case of leishmaniasis entering the U.S. via Syrian refugees.
IDF Arrests 11 Palestinians
The Israel Defense Forces on Monday arrested 11 Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus and the surrounding refugee camps on suspicion of illegal possession of firearms. This is the latest in a series of measures taken against the territory’s militants and came one day after Hamas operatives were arrested for masterminding a bus attack in Jerusalem last month in which 19 Israelis were injured.
At least nine of the 11 arrested on Monday are affiliated with Fatah, President Mahmoud Abbas’s movement, a Palestinian Authority security officer told Breitbart Jerusalem.
The officer said it wasn’t clear whether the militants were planning to use the weapons to attack Israelis or rival armed factions.
But he said that Hamas and Iran-backed Hizbullah efforts to recruit young Palestinians, mainly Fatah members, from the Nablus area have increased.
“We informed Israelis of our actions to foil the formation of any kind of militia in the West Bank, whether it plans to attack the Palestinian Authority or Israel,” the officer said. “Sometimes they make do with our operations, and sometimes, like last night, they carry out their own.”