cases of plague north-east of Kyrgyzstan
 

in the north east of Kyrgyzstan, Ichke-Zhergez, close to the border with Kazakhstan and the Issyk-Kul lake, a 15 year old died of the plague, 5 others seem to be infected and 105 are in quarantine.(27.8.2013) - Though the officials take precautions and it doesnt seem to spread, you never know, don't get bitten by fleas, stay away from ratty places and don't let yourself cough at. Kazakhstans border takes harder controls only on animal transports so far.
Probably no big reason to worry, but lets have an eye on it.
T. in Bishkek

I'm in karakol now and haven't seen any affect on life here, there are also some new riots on south shore blocking the road, so watch out for them too.

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Is Hamster!
 

The source of the outbreak seems to have been identified as some locals having a barbecue of "local delicacies." These "local delicacies" are the same ones that brought the Black Death to Europe in the middle ages. Some years ago Manuel, from Fawlty Towers, described the "local delicacies" as hamsters and christened his "Basil."

Well, just dodged another quarantine area then. Damn hamsters.

Managed to dodge the plague in Issyk Kul and riots shutting down my road 6 hours after I went through, but got bad food poisoning instead...suppose I should count it a blessing in comparison.

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It's not a hamster:

Temir Issakunov is thought to have died after being bitten by an infected flea while he herded livestock in a remote village in the north east of Kyrgyzstan – a mountainous country in central Asia. Initial reports that he died after eating a barbecued marmot are believed to be false.

via Black Death returns: Herder dies of bubonic plague in Kyrgyzstan after being bitten by infected flea - Health News - Health & Families - The Independent

Was the Marmot called Basil?

Basil is not marmot, Basil is hamster.

Mr Fawlty, Que? Is you sayin' the name Basil is exclusively the domain of hamsters? Why can't marmots be called Basil?

or

To misquote Bob Dylan: 2 rodents claim they're Basil, one of them must be wrong...

:offtopic::confused1:

Man...that ride to Magadan really f*@$^d you up! :rofl:

As you know, it's a long boring ride. Lots of time to think and let the demons/ rodents take over. ;-)