According to reports in the Iraqi media, some ISIS fighters are sick with Ebola. Pro-government and Kurdish media sources say ISIS fighters have been showing up in hospitals in Mosul seeking treatment for the disease.
The reports were called incorrect by the Iraqi health ministry. The World Health Organization does not have evidence of any confirmed cases, but it has offered its assistance. There may not be any health professionals in Mosul with the training and technology to test for and treat Ebola.
The media sources say the ISIS fighters had bleeding, bruising, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Those are common symptoms of not only Ebola, but Marburg virus, Yellow fever, Lassa fever, malaria, and many other diseases. The media reports say the diseases may have been transmitted by terrorists from Africa and other countries who have joined the ISIS militants. However, few if any ISIS fighters are from or have visited West Africa. Their African fighters are primarily from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, and Sudan. No cases of Ebola have been reported in those areas.
U.N. medical officials say if there is an Ebola outbreak among ISIS fights, it could be particularly devastating for the fighters because they eschew modern medicine. It could also be problematic for the residents of Kabul and other cities close by because they lack supplies and medical infrastructure to combat the disease. The members of the U.N. medical team haven’t been allowed into the ISIS-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria for quite some time.