Message-ID: <19188299.1075855464626.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 15:37:55 -0800 (PST) From: j.kaminski@enron.com To: vkaminski@aol.com Subject: FW: this is an ugly report from Janes Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Kaminski, Vince J X-To: 'vkaminski@aol.com' X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Vincent_Kaminski_Jan2002_1\Kaminski, Vince J\Sent Items X-Origin: Kaminski-V X-FileName: vkamins (Non-Privileged).pst -----Original Message----- From: Greene, John Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 1:15 PM To: Kaminski, Vince J Subject: FW: this is an ugly report from Janes This is the news item I was talking about -----Original Message----- From: Simon, Jonathan [mailto:Jonathan.Simon@lehman.com] Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 7:55 AM To: Simon, Jonathan Subject: this is an ugly report from Janes International Security Jane's Security Digest 28 November 2001 Have Soviet-era bio-weapons infected Afghan refugees? Ominous news from Pakistan and Iran indicate that at best a viral pandemic may be brewing among Afghan refugees, at worst that former Soviet biological weapons have possibly made their first appearance. In Pakistan, at least 75 people have been diagnosed in Quetta, capital of Baluchistan province, with Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in the largest outbreak of the disease ever recorded. Eight have already died. All the infected are refugees recently arrived from Afghanistan or people living close to the border. An isolation ward surrounded by barbed wire has been established at the Fatima Jinnah chest and general hospital in Quetta. Ali-Safar Makaanali, head of Iran's Border Quarantines, has confirmed that Iranian health officials are also dealing with an outbreak of the virus, with more than 100 citizens having been infected. Iranian health authorities have established 40 quarantine bases on the border in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease. In addition, more than 100 mobile quarantine bases have been set up, and 39 hospitals have been prepared to cope with patients. As the traditional infection vector are ticks and as refugees would undoubtedly bring their livestock with them, the possibility of a pandemic looms large, especially if the current campaign causes a flood of refugees. The virus has a mortality rate of over 50 per cent, damaging arteries, veins and other blood vessels before leading to the collapse of major organs, eventually causing its victim to die of internal bleeding. The disease is highly infectious and can be transmitted via contact with infected individuals. Soviet biological arsenal at large What makes the viral outbreak menacing is the knowledge that in the 1980s the USSR's biological warfare research organisation Biopreparat intensively studied biological weapons and maintained a bank of 10,000 of the most dangerous and exotic viruses known, including smallpox, Ebola and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever. Many intelligence analysts believe that Osama bin Laden acquired biological weapons agents from Kazakh arms dealers. Therefore, it begs the question: Are the Iranian and Pakistani outbreaks an unfortunate coincidence or something more sinister?