Plague Casualties Being Blamed on 'Flu?

I invite you to go over to Shirat Devorah to read her blogpost on what is purportedly happening in Ukraine. And then look at the additional information that I've added below.

I saw a reference to this situation on an alternative news site that I frequent several days ago. I happened to mention it to a friend of mine today and when I went to print one of those articles as proof of what I was talking about, I found that they had all disappeared. But then, I remembered that Shirat Devorah had blogged about it a couple of days ago and I went there to see if she had a link to an original report. Instead, I found that she had updated it through today.

In my previous search for info I came across some additional information which might interest you. In short, there are reports coming out of Ukraine that claims an outbreak of pneumonic plague is being covered up as 'flu infections. Something strange is definitely going on, what or why is beyond me, but we should keep an eye on it as it develops.

Take for instance this November 4th AFP article:

KIEV (AFP) – Eighty-six people have died in Ukraine from flu and respiratory infections, the health ministry said Wednesday, in an epidemic the World Health Organisation said could be largely due to the A(H1N1) virus.

Today, the statistics are reported as 1 million infected, 174 dead of the disease. But what I find interesting is this. A cursory read would lead one to understand that these statistics are all attributable to the swine 'flu, but look more closely at their use of language.

KIEV (AFP) – Eighty-six people have died in Ukraine from flu and respiratory infections, the health ministry said Wednesday, in an epidemic the World Health Organisation said could be largely due to the A(H1N1) virus.

What this tells us is that there is very possibly another culprit out there killing people and that makes me wonder if there is any truth to the plague rumors. The AFP article continues:

Lyudmila Mukharska, Ukraine's deputy chief health officer, ... vehemently denied rumours that the west of the country was suffering from an outbreak of plague, saying that it was "H1N1 that is circulating in Ukraine".

The WHO has sent a team of nine experts to Ukraine to help the authorities with the situation.

Then there is this TIME magazine article from November 6th:

Ukraine is in the midst of what some might call swine-flu hysteria. The country is in virtual lockdown mode, with the government closing schools, universities and movie theaters and banning all public gatherings until the end of November. Pharmacies have run out of protective masks; those who missed the rush are improvising with scarves or homemade facsimiles. And rumors are running rampant, much as they did during Soviet times when the authorities tried to cover up disasters like the Chernobyl nuclear-plant meltdown. "We are worried that the swine flu has mutated and is killing scores of people," says Nina Sokolovska as she stands in line at a pharmacy.

The following comes from a website called PreventDisease.com:

Infectious disease expert Dr. Donald Lau explained that the chances of the Ukrainian pandemic being the same H1N1 virus that has infected the world are very low. "The statistical probability of this being the same H1N1 virus are infinitesimally small." Dr. Lau stated that the high viral transmission rates are extremely unusual for H1N1 and there is almost certainly some type of new virus, or a lethal recombination that has occurred.

...Ukrainian authorities on Sunday launched an urgent appeal for help from world powers after it imposed drastic measures to tackle a sudden surge of flu-like illness in the country.

See also here:

After infected cases double again in the Ukraine plague approaching the
1 million mark, the World Health Organization (WHO) is holding back gene sequences which could provide evidence of the mutation or recombination of the H1N1 or novel virus.

A special blog set up to monitor and report on the Ukraine 'flu situation says that bodies are being cremated; doctors are refusing to tend the sick for fear of getting the plague; and the authorities are looking to silence anyone who reports on it.

This definitely bears watching.