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News Watch 2007

Sunday, June 24, 2007

New, untreatable form of tuberculosis

infecting thousands could become epidemic

By Steve Thompson, Midnight in America

WorldNetDaily reported today that there is a new, untreatable form of tuberculosis that is infecting tens of thousands of people each year, and could reach epidemic proportions into the millions. Read the original story, by Bob Unruh of WorldNetDaily here.

You probably heard of this story previously when an American, Andrew Speaker, diagnosed with TB was reported to have traveled on an commercial airlines to Europe and back. He is now in a Denver hospital receiving treatment (of sorts).

The story made news headlines all over the world, and caused a substantial amount of panic. What was not reported, however, was that the type of TB he has (XDR-TB) is this new, untreatable form.

It seems that this form of TB is particularly prevalent in countries where HIV is at an epidemic level. Those with HIV have a weak immune system and are more susceptible to TB.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is soliciting for billions of dollars to attack the problem. They have a plan in place, but it seems that even with the needed money they will not have a handle on it until the year 2015, which is their 'goal'. They (WHO) claim that their plan will save the lives of 1.2 million people. That is, of course, if it works. The target year of 2015 is 8 years away. How many people will become infected and will die until then?

News of this sort should come as no shock to Christians who are in tune with the times that we are living in. The Bible clearly predicts that rampant, deadly diseases will kill much of the world population on a scale that we cannot imagine. This new form of TB is just the tip of an ever-growing iceberg. We already have HIV killing millions across the entire world. Sadly, there will be even more untreatable diseases coming into play as we quickly approach the great tribulation.

And yet, the world marches forward, totally oblivious to the times we are approaching. Problems such as this recent TB outbreak go under-reported, and those that do read of it ignore its potential for death of millions. Only when the world is fully in the tribulation will people take notice, but then it will be too late for most.

***UPDATE: It was reported today (July 4, 2007) that Andrew Speaker, who was originally diagnosed with untreatable TB, does NOT have the deadly disease. He does, however, have a lesser form of TB and must continue to receive treatment. This new development does not take away from the fact that there are tens of thousands of people infected with XDR-TB each year. -- Steve Thompson