Cholera Outbreak In Iraq Could Be First Of Many - 25,000 Cases Already Reported - New Scientist

[hatrack]

Sorry, it's a subscription site, so just this smidgen:

As if being killed by bombs and bullets wasn't bad enough, Iraqis must now battle disease as well. Cholera broke out in Kirkuk province in northern Iraq in mid-August and is spreading fast. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 25,000 people now have the disease.

Cholera spreads in sewage-tainted drinking water and can kill without prompt treatment. So far 10 people are known to have died. Gil Burnham of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore says the toll may be low because the region is among the least affected by the flight of medical personnel from Iraq. As many as half of all doctors have fled some areas, so if the epidemic reaches them things could get much worse.

EDIT

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526224.100;jsessionid=PGIOFPNGCJEN

[Bobbieo]

1. The second of the 4 Horsemen has arrived in Iraq - War - Pestilence

[enid602]

2. 25000 Iraqi's with the disease . . . .

. . . or 25000 worldwide with the disease?

[hatrack]

3. These are cases in Iraq - the outbreak began in the north a month or two ago

WHO had been very worried about this reaching Baghdad, and it's now apparently already there.

[NNadir]

4. Any Americans involved?

If not, we couldn't care less.

[depakid]

5. I would guess that military personnel are vaccinated

but you're right, if it's "just foreigners," most Americans could care less.

[enid602]

7. vaccination

And yet, with all our talk of spreading democracy and all, don't you think someone in the * Administration would have had the forethought to institute a vaccination program for the Iraqis? Sounds like it wouldn't cost too much.

[NMDemDist2]

6. Cholera

Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes can be severe.

What are cholera symptoms?

Approximately 1 in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterized by:

* profuse watery diarrhea,
* vomiting, and
* leg cramps.

In these persons, rapid loss of body fluids leads to dehydration and shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.

How does a person get cholera?

A person may get cholera by drinking water or eating food contaminated with the cholera bacterium. In an epidemic, the source of the contamination is usually the feces (stool) of an infected person. The disease can spread rapidly in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water.

The cholera bacterium may also live in the environment in brackish rivers and coastal waters. Shellfish eaten raw have been a source of cholera, and a few persons in the United States have contracted cholera after eating raw or undercooked shellfish from the Gulf of Mexico. The disease is not likely to spread directly from one person to another; therefore, casual contact with an infected person is not a risk for becoming ill.