Islamic State Issues Flu Advice To Syrians

TEL AVIV – The Islamic State organization has published pictures of its militants executing an Iraqi man who was accused of “cursing” Allah.

The middle-aged “defendant” was beheaded in front of a live audience after his verdict was read out to him. In the pictures, the man was seen dragged in the streets of Faluja with his body left headless.

The pictures were posted on IS online forums and were obtained by Breitbart Jerusalem. An example appears below:

At the same time, in a somewhat unexpected display of concern for the populace, IS militants handed out leaflets in the Syrian city of Raqqa instructing the public about ways to deal with the flu.

The organization published pictures online showing militants handing health flyers out to people and hanging them on noticeboards across the city.

Since September, Syria has seen a sharp rise in deaths of swine flu victims, with the Syrian Health Ministry last week confirming 11 people have died since the beginning of September due to the seasonal virus.

“Since September, 27 people infected with the H1N1 virus have been hospitalised. Eleven of them died,” Ahmad Damiriyeh of the health ministry’s division on chronic and contagious diseases was quoted by the state-run Al-Thawra daily as saying.

Besides swine flu, Syria has also been swept by leishmaniasis, a flesh-eating disease that has spread along with Syrian refugees to Lebanon and Turkey.

L​eishmaniasis has been spreading like wildfire in Syria since the health system collapsed in rebel-held territories in 2011. By 2012, there were already 52,982 documented cases of the disease in Syria

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 of 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.