First Cholera Cases Confirmed in Baghdad
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Sep 20, 5:19 PM EDT
*
First Cholera Cases Confirmed in Baghdad*
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The World Health Organization confirmed on Thursday the
first cholera case in Baghdad since 2003, raising fears the disease is
spreading from the north of the country where it has struck more than
1,000 people.
A 25-year-old woman from eastern Baghdad was found to have cholera after
she turned up at a hospital with severe diarrhea, said Dr. Naeema
al-Gasseer, the WHO's representative in Iraq.
Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by
drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that, in
extreme cases, can lead to fatal dehydration.
The disease broke out in Iraq in mid-August, but had been confined to
northern Iraq, affecting the provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Irbil and Tamim,
which is home to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. At least 10 people have
died, according to WHO.
Several suspected cholera cases also have been reported in Diyala
province, north of Baghdad, but al-Gasseer said none had been confirmed.
Cholera is endemic to Iraq, with about 30 cases registered each year.
But the last time there was an epidemic in the country was in 1999 when
20 cases were discovered in one day, said Adel Muhsin, the Health
Ministry's inspector-general.
Al-Gasseer said health authorities were concerned the disease could
spread because of the movement of people within Iraq's borders. Hundreds
of thousands of displaced people have been forced to flee their homes
because of violence.
A disease that would otherwise be easily treatable has been made all the
more dangerous because of Iraq's precarious security situation following
the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
"We need to look at safe water, safe import of food, hygiene, the
network of water and the network of sewage disposal," al-Gasseer said in
a telephone interview.
The latest WHO report dated Sept. 14 reported a total of 24,532 cases of
people with symptoms of cholera such as diarrhea and vomiting in the
northern provinces. Out of those, laboratory tests have confirmed 1,055
cases of cholera.
It said 10 people have died - nine in Sulaimaniyah and one in Tamim.
Al-Gasseer also said some 100,000 tons of chlorine were being held up at
Iraq's border with Jordan, apparently because of fears the chemical
could be used in explosives. She urged authorities to release it for use
in decontaminating water supplies.
Insurgents in the country staged several chlorine truck bombings this
year, killing scores of Iraqis.
Muhsin confirmed such concerns were holding up the border shipment but
said he was told the problem was solved and that the chlorine would
arrive soon. Chlorine will be added in higher doses to Baghdad's water
supply as a precaution against cholera, Muhsin said.
His teams recently tested drinking water across the capital and
discovered chlorine levels on 20 locations were inadequate to prevent
cholera. Also, several ice factories were closed in Iraq because of
cholera concerns, he said.
The Health Ministry would continue checking drinking water in all Iraqi
cities, Muhsin told The Associated Press, and teams would inspect ice
factories and ice cream makers.
Each hospital in Iraq set up a special ward for diarrhea-stricken
patients and the Health Ministry also launched an ad campaign, with
250,000 posters and 5 million leaflets printed to "educate and warn the
people about cholera," Muhsin said.
----
Associated Press writer Katarina Kratovac in Baghdad contributed to this
report.