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Thursday, May 08, 2003Two hospitals in have reported 17 confirmed cases of cholera in the Iraqi city of Basra, and the World Health Organization said Wednesday it fears far more have gone unreported. A WHO team dispatched to the southern city this week said the number of confirmed cases of cholera does not reflect the extent of the disease. "An outbreak of cholera, affecting probably several hundreds of people, is occurring," said WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib. The first confirmed cases in Basra turned up in children age 4 and under. Tests were done by the Al-Tahir Teaching Hospital and Basra Maternal and Child Hospital. Additional samples have been sent to a laboratory in Kuwait for confirmation, and results are expected by Thursday. Seventeen cases does not an epidemic make, although poor sanitation and unclean water do make the situation ripe for it. However, it's not clear that things are as bad as the article makes it sound: British forces and aid agencies have sent water tankers through the city and surrounding towns, and British engineers have restored about 80 percent of the water system. Not only that, it turns out that cholera is common in Iraq: Local doctors say cholera outbreaks occur each year in southern Iraq but with the medical system under a huge strain treating war injuries, they fear this one may be worse. And apparently Uganda wishes it only had seventeen cases of cholera: "We have recorded 601 cases of cholera, with 44 deaths, in the district between January 5 and April 20," Bundibugyo Resident District Commissioner Erasto Gubaare told AFP news agency. Multiply that by the WHO official's factor of ten and that is, indeed, an epidemic. But evidently, no one's paying any attention: "International agencies should come to the rescue of these people," the health official added. Are there any international agencies not preoccupied with exaggerating the plight of post-war Iraq WHO could help these people? posted by Sydney on 5/08/2003 07:10:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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