Armies have always been vulnerable to epidemic disease. And in the Middle East, history may be repeating itself. There have been reports:
… that Islamic State militants in Mosul have contracted Ebola
And:
World Health Organization officials said they haven’t confirmed the cases, but the organization has reached out to offer assistance.
If there is disease, spreading in epidemic fashion in Mosul it may not necessarily be Ebola since:
… Ebola symptoms — nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding and bruising — are also similar to those associated with a number of other diseases, including malaria, Lassa fever, yellow fever viruses and the Marburg virus. Also, most confirmed Ebola cases in this recent outbreak have originated in West Africa.
Whatever the situation, ISIS will be pressed to deal with it since:
Over the past few weeks, militants affiliated with ISIS have executed more than a dozen doctors in Mosul, according to Benjamin T. Decker, an intelligence analyst with the Levantine Group, a Middle East-based geopolitical risk and research consultancy.
