Why is This Not Bigger News

I have a hard time falling asleep unless there are people talking (preferrably male voices) in the background. No need to tell you that, really, except to state that I often hear a lot of infomercials, late night C-Span, and frequently the Coast to Coast conspirators.

One of the recurring topics of late on Coast to Coast has been the increasing frequency of super-viruses (I may be using the wrong term). Granted, you have to take a lot of what is said there with a grain of salt, but they do manage to unearth a lot of references to the avian bird flue, SARS, etc.

With that in mind, I am curious- why is this story not getting more attention:

A mysterious viral infection has forced military authorities in Germany to close four bases, ordering nearly 4,000 personnel and their dependents to stay home, authorities said Friday.

The bases Schwalmstadt, Schwarzenborn, Stadtallendorf and Neustadt will be closed for three weeks while the premises are disinfected.

“This is the worst single such infectious situation we’ve ever had,” a Defence Ministry spokesman said Friday.

The viral epidemic began in Schwalmstadt in the central German state of Hesse, when 150 of the 800 personnel stationed there complained of inflamed and itching eyes.

The Bundeswehr closed that base last week. Just four days later, the same symptoms cropped up at nearby Neustadt, where all 800 service personnel were told to go home until further notice.

With some 14,000 troops stationed in Hesse, German military authorities became alarmed as two more bases were ordered closed.

“Something is being transmitted between these bases – food, laundry, books – something that people touch with their hands and then inadvertently transfer to their eyes,” a spokesman said.

Let’s try to go easy on the tinfoil hat theories, but are these viruses really on the rise? I have not seen anything on Charles Murtaugh’s or the Medpundit’s sites.