European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 01, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 12 the stars and stripes plague in India saturday october 1,1994 fear of plaque grips new Delhi schools movie Heaters Cosec after 2 deaths new Delhi India a new Delhi closed All schools and movie Thea ters Friday after the plague killed two people in the capital and left Many Resi dents living in fear. Many people Are wearing face masks on the streets to avoid the pneumonic plague germ. The epidemic began killing eople in the Western City of Surat on ept 20, and the disease has spread widely since hundreds of thousands there fled their Homes. Authorities say at least 56 people including 54 in Surat have died in India s first outbreak of the plague in nearly 30 years. Unofficial estimates put the death toll at More than 300. 0 if caught Early the disease can be cured with antibiotics such As tetracycline which Don t require prescriptions in India. But Many pharmacies quickly Rajput of the antibiotics and others Are sell ing them on the Black Market. Many people reportedly Are taking the drugs before showing Early symptoms such As coughing and fever. Pneumonic plague is More virulent than the bubonic plague that devastated Europe and Asia in the 14th Century. I untreated it is almost 100 percent fatal. Other countries were on the Alert for signs of plague within their Borders. Sri Lanka reported its fourth suspected plague Case from India on Friday. One is a russian Sailor who arrived on a cargo ship that stopped in Bombay India. The others were among 3,400 sri lankan refugees who recently returned Home from nearby India. In Britain eight people who developed flu like symptoms apparently after visit ing India were tested for pneumonic plague. Five did not have the disease test results for the three others were pending. _ air ship and train service to and from India was cancelled or monitored by Paki Stan Bangladesh South Korea and Many mideastern countries. The United states Europe and other countries in Asia were residents of Surat India cover their faces thursday for fear of infection from plague. Monitoring air passengers from India South Korea ordered a six Day quaran Tine for travellers from suit and russian health experts urged their government Toban All travel to India. New Delhi City workers meanwhile were racing through the Many Squali shantytowns of the City Home of 11 million people cleaning up Mounds of garbage that Lay in the streets and Spray ing open drains with insecticides Ana Poi sons that kill plague infected fleas an  City closed All schools and movie Heaters indefinitely Friday to prevent infected people from spreading the disease by coughing or sneezing in crowded places. But Many people still believe the plague will spread further. Some Are calling relatives and cancel ing their plans to visit new Delhi next month to celebrate the Durga Puja Festi Val. _ the five Day hindu festival which be gins oct. 10, honors Durga the 10 headed goddess of Protection who Many indians believe once killed a Demon who tried to destroy Earth. I am really scared of the plague and i Don t want my relatives to come to Delhi said Parbati Sensarma 65, a grandmother whose daughter lives i northeastern India. I know i should t panic but the fear is too much she said in an interview from her neighbourhood of Vasant Kunj. Amita Palit 50, sounded even More frightened. When i read  today became really scared she said at tier Home in me Rauli a nearby neighbor Hood. I have decided not to leave my Home she said. Why take the risk i have stocked up on tetracycline in Case i need  two people from new Delhi died of pneumonic plague thursday the first vie Tims in the capital since the disease broke out in Surat and began spreading hundreds of Miles to the states of West Beng Al Adhya Pravesh Maharashtra and Punjab. The deaths occurred at the All India Institute of medical sciences the City s largest general Hospital. Neither victim had been in Contact with Surat or people who fled the City. Hospital spokesman Bijay dash identified the victims As Rajesh Kumar 5, and Sanjay Kumar 18, the son of a nursing orderly at the Hospital. The victims who were not related were not moved to hospitals that treate Lague cases because no one knew they Adit until their sputum was tested after they died dash said. A front Page Story about the two patients in Friday s times of India newspaper increased fears of the plague. It is scary to see that these two patients were mistakenly kept in a general Hospital said or. Barin Palit who works in a private nursing Home in Souther new Delhi. Now it is Clear that the plague i spreading from Man to Man in new Delhi and May even have done that i that  rat worship stifling health officials7 efforts a  boy feeds rats thursday at a Park in Calcutta India. Rats Are worshipped by Many in India. New Delhi India a it s a health official s Nightmare tens of thousands of rats racing across the floor feasting on fruit and Candy. At the Garrii Mata Temple in the desert state of Rajasthan the Effort to quell the first outbreak of plague in 28 years takes a Back seat to an old hindu practice rat worship the Marble floored Temple one of India s most famous shrines is one of Many Sites in India where rats Are worshipped and fed As they Breed and Breed and Breed.  a  a. A Many of the rats leap onto a platform where food has been placed under a Golden umbrella by worship ers while priests chant hymns and play cymbals. In hindu mythology the elephant headed god Ganesh is accompanied by a rat whenever he travels. No hindu worship is. Complete without an offering to Ganesh and his Small  the 1940s and Early 50s, plague routinely killed thousands of indians each year because the impoverished nation had no real healthcare program. On sept. 20, for the first time in 28 years indians began dying of the plague in the Western City of Surat. Since then the official death toll in the arabian sea port has risen to 54. Unofficial estimates Are 300. Hundreds of thousands of people who fled Surat Al ready have spread the disease farther than the last major plague epidemic which killed 100 people in Southern state in 1962. In 10 Days plague cases already have spread hundreds of Miles from Surat to new Delhi and the states of West Bengal Adhya Pravesh Maharashtra and Punjab. Many other states Are examining hundreds of suspected plague cases in overcrowded hospitals. As. Least 250 confirmed plague cases have been reported. On thursday sri Lanka halted the repatriation of sri lankan refugees from South India. More than 3,000 refugees were due next week. Fearing the plague could spread saudi Arabia Kuwait the United Arab emirates Qatar Oman and Bahrain suspended flights to India this week. The United Arab emirates and Yemen suspended shipping. The deadly epidemic in this nation of 900 million people has raised concern about rats which like cows Are a deified in India. This nonsense has to Stop said Kolo mesh Chandra Dev a retired government official who has started a neighbourhood Campaign to kill rats in new Delhi. The time has come for people to realize it is either us or the rat -. Even at Indian airports few staffers Are willing to kill rats. Last year air India India s International Carrier had to postpone Tiree flights to Tokyo new York and London after rats were found in the cockpit of each plane. The airline was concerned the rats might have damaged control panel wiring. Another flight from Oman to Bombay returned after Takeoff when pilots found rats in the cockpit. In the Eastern Metropolis of Calcutta where at least seven plague cases have been reported hindu Resi dents still flock to a City Park to feed the tens of thou Sands of rats who live there. Though rats infest much of India including City shantytowns and farms where they eat nearly one Quarter of the produce enough to feed India for three months indians rarely kill rats. I do trap a rat when i see one in my Kitchen but i can never kill it Amita Roy a resident of the Vasant Kunj Section of new Delhi said thursday. It is a Sinto kill the companion of our  at Daybreak in Many towns villages and cities Indi an men and women Are seen carrying rats in traps and releasing them at a distance from their Homes. Rarely is tone killed. .