Several Iraqi news sources, including Al Sabah and the website al-Maalomah, reported on Wednesday that several ISIS fighters sought help at a hospital in Mosul, 250 miles north of the city of Baghdad, after developing symptoms of Ebola virus infection.
Citing anonymous sources in a hospital in Mosul, Al-Sabah reported that two cases of Ebola and 26 cases of HIV/AIDS were confirmed by health authorities in Mosul. The newspaper also claimed that ISIS recruits from some African countries brought the virus to Iraq.
The International Business Times UK also carried a similar report, quoting Iraqi news sources.
But a spokesperson for the Iraqi health ministry, Ahmed Rudaini, has denied reports that two cases of Ebola virus infection were diagnosed among ISIS militants in Mosul. The Iraqi health ministry spokesperson said the infection couldn’t have been confirmed in Mosul because none of the hospitals in the city have the diagnostic facilities. He said only the Central Laboratory of Public Health in Baghdad has the ability to confirm cases of Ebola virus infection.
Responding to inquiries from Mashable, a WHO spokesperson, Christy Feigh, said, “We have no official notification that it is Ebola.”
Feigh said the WHO was investigating the reports and would give assistance if needed. But because UN workers are banned from entering ISIS-held areas in Iraq and Syria, it is unclear how the organization would be able to confirm the report or render assistance in suspected cases.
Mashable, however, reports that a Kurdish official who appeared convinced that the reports were accurate told the Kurdish news outlet Xendan that the militants reported at the hospital in Mosul with symptoms of Ebola virus infection.
While Iraqi health officials are probably not taking the reports seriously, an outbreak of Ebola among ISIS militants could have serious consequences due to lack of access to the ISIS-held areas. It is also feared that ISIS militants could use the presence of the virus among its militants as a terror weapon against opponents, further complicating the prosecution of the war against the extremist group.
However, the symptoms of Ebola virus, including vomiting, diarrhea and bleeding in the late stages of the disease are similar to those of several other diseases, including malaria, yellow fever and typhoid fever. Thus, it is possible that the militants who reported at the hospital in Mosul were suffering from other diseases that have symptoms similar to Ebola.
Given the fact that the reports were carried exclusively on pro-government newspapers, it is not possible to rule out that they were designed to cause confusion among ISIS fighters and discourage new recruits from joining the group. It is not known that ISIS has a significant number of recruits from West African countries where the epidemic has been reported. Thousands of foreign recruits to ISIS arrived mostly from North African countries such as Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and Somalia where there have been no reports of Ebola outbreak.
The Ebola virus epidemic has claimed thousands of lives in the West African countries of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
Recently, Nigerian news sources reported that ISIS was making efforts to recruit fighters from the country. The report led the Nigerian government to issue a statement urging some Middle Eastern countries to carry out thorough background checks on Nigerians applying for visas.
The report that some ISIS militants might have contracted Ebola comes a few weeks after Benjamin T. Decker, intelligence analyst and Iraq specialist with the Middle East research firm Levantine Group, said that ISIS executed about 11 doctors in Mosul for refusing to treat wounded militants.
Mosul was among several cities ISIS fighters captured earlier in the year 2014. The militants declared an Islamic caliphate in the areas they captured. Mosul, in particular, has been under ISIS control since June 2014. The city has reportedly suffered food, water and power shortages since extremist militants took over. Residents have suffered brutal treatment with reports of executions and enslavement of minorities women and children.
On Wednesday, the US and its allies carried out 17 airstrikes in Syria and 12 in Iraq. The airstrikes in Syria targeted ISIS facilities in Al Raqqah, Dayr az Zawr and Kobani, while the strikes in Iraq hit ISIS buildings and positions around Mosul, Fallujah and Sinja.
