- Feb 8, 2001
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wnbc.com
Health Officials Fear Rabbi Gave Infants Herpes
POSTED: 7:44 am EST February 2, 2005
UPDATED: 8:03 am EST February 2, 2005
NEW YORK -- City health officials are investigating the death of a baby boy who was one of three infants to contract herpes after a Rockland County-based rabbi circumcised them.
Ten days after Rabbi Yitzhok Fischer performed a bris, or religious circumcision, on twins last October, one infant died of herpes and the other tested positive for the virus, according to Wednesday's edition of the Daily News.
Health officials later found a third baby, on Staten Island, that tested positive for herpes and was circumcised by Fischer in late 2003.
Under Jewish law, a mohel -- someone who performs circumcisions -- draws blood from the circumcision wound. Most mohels do it by hand, but Fischer uses a rare practice where he uses his mouth, called "metzizah bi peh." :Q
The city "is concerned that the possible transmission of herpes simplex virus type 1 in infants may be continuing as a result of defendant's practice of metzizah bi peh," city lawyers wrote in the Dec. 22 complaint filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Fischer's lawyer, Mark Kurzmann, told the Daily News that Fischer was cooperating with the investigation, although it's unclear whether Fischer submitted to the city's request for a blood test.
"My client is known internationally as a caring, skilled, and conscientious mohel," Kurzmann said. © 2005 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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