Afghans Fear Phones Spread Deadly Virus

(AP)  Worried Afghans switched off their mobile phones Monday as rumors spread that a deadly virus could be contracted by answering calls from "strange numbers."

An official with Afghan Wireless Communication Company, Abdullah, said hundreds of calls were received Monday from worried customers who had heard the rumor.

"There's a strange rumor that if you get a phone call from a strange number, if you hit 'OK' (to answer the phone), blood will come from your nose and ears, and you will die," said Mar, a taxi driver, who said he was just about to turn off his phone.

A similar rumor prompted a rash of panic calls to cellular service providers in neighboring Pakistan last week.

Afghan officials scrambled to calm alarmed cell phone users.

"We have no reports of anyone answering their telephone and then bleeding from their noses," said Abdullah Fahim, a spokesman for the Health Ministry. "Not today, not yesterday, and not before then — we have no such reports."

Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary accused "the enemy" of creating propaganda to spread anxiety among the public.

"It has no rational basis," Bashary said. "It is not possible that through the wireless phone, a virus is transmitted to a person. The enemy wants the people to be under psychological pressure."

If found, those responsible for spreading the rumor will be arrested and prosecuted, Bashary said.

[sclaires]

All the Taliban wants to do is scare the people of Afghanistan & Pakistan to give up their cell phones and not keep up with what is going on. If they can scare enough people then Afghanistan will go back to being uninformed, uneducated, and back under the Taliban control. That is why they are spreading the rumors. JUST TO SCARE THE PEOPLE!!!

[toolmangler-2009]

shucks! I thought somebody would jump on that one. ;)

[toolmangler-2009]

THAT STATEMENT IS FALSE!

THE REAL TRUTH IS THAT THE GLUE WHICH HOLDS THE PLASTIC TOGETHER ON CELL PHONES HAS BEEN MADE WITH SWINE HOOFS AND BONE THEREFORE IF YOU USE THE PHONE YOU ARE UNCLEAN BY RELIGIOUS STANDARDS!
Posted by bluestardad at 07:50 AM : Apr 17, 2007


Animal protien glues are of little use with polymerized plastics an ascetic based solvent type glue works better.

[tucson23]

Dam*n, and I thought American cell-phone users were stupid. We probably should be building schools there. Sheesh...

[bluestardad]

THAT STATEMENT IS FALSE!

THE REAL TRUTH IS THAT THE GLUE WHICH HOLDS THE PLASTIC TOGETHER ON CELL PHONES HAS BEEN MADE WITH SWINE HOOFS AND BONE THEREFORE IF YOU USE THE PHONE YOU ARE UNCLEAN BY RELIGIOUS STANDARDS!

[crater7]

UnderMyBoot:
You Tell-em,
That worked so well in Iraq, we should not stop with Afghanistan, include, Iran, N Korea, how about Califorina, I hear there are a lot of Dems, there. Ohhh, worked well 30 plus years ago also. Maybe we should just nuke them instead? Or, we could let Gonzallas, Rove, just delete them. They would be lost in cyber space, never to be found or heard of again. Or,,,,, This strong ( good american ) administration could just LIE, THEM TO DEATH.

[hsmagst]

This is a perfect example of what repression and lack of education can cause. It%u2019s on about the same level as the belief in Africa that having *** with a 6 year old virgin will cure aids. Uneducated people are to be pitied and the rest of the world should step up and change the repressive conditions they are forced to live in. We would all benefit.

[sevenveils]

This is the teachings of an Islamic cleric wishing his congregation would not be informed and even have an idea of their own

[extremophil]

If Allah commanded you to hit yourself in the face with your phone, maybe that would cause some bleeding. LALALAALALALLALALALALA!!!

[canyoutellme-2009]

The Afgans must have al completed the Bush no child left behind course. They only studied for the test and never learned anything about the real world.

How backwards can a whole country be to belive such things?
Posted by jjp735i at 03:01 PM : Apr 16, 2007

Don't hold all the afghan people to this sterotype... they got "hundreds" of phone calls the article says.. there are MANY MANY millions of people. I guarantee you, that if the same rumor floated across the US, you would get MANY THOUSANDS of people calling to voice how concerned they are about this very same threat. Point is, there are stupid people everywhere...

Think of it this way, how many millions of people foward on those ridiculous chain e-mails that say "if you don't forward this to 100 of your closest friends immediately, you will face a fate worth than death in 3 days" ...