Three circumcised babies with herpes spark NY health probe

I had read this story before in regard to a spiritual ritual being done on new born baby boys.

The first part of the article reads:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and municipal health officials met recently with local ultra-Orthodox leaders to discuss banning mohelim (ritual circumcisers) from performing the Talmudic custom known as metzitzah b'peh (oral suction), in which blood is drawn from the circumcision wound to cleanse it. The New York Times reported on August 26 that this practice became a health issue after three infants circumcised by the same mohel were infected with the herpes virus. One of the babies subsequently died.

Health officials in New York suspect that oral suction exposes the infants to Type-1 herpes, which is common in adults but can be fatal to infants.

A baby from Staten Island and twins from the Hasidic community of Monsey contracted the disease; one of the twins died in February.

Read the entire article here: