Oy, Hepatitis spreads in 2 Iraqi districts

[AlCzervik]

http://www.iht.com/articles/540294.html



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Collapse of water and sewage systems is believed to be at root of the illness
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BAGHDAD A virulent form of hepatitis that is especially lethal for pregnant women has broken out in two of Iraq's most troubled districts, Iraqi Health Ministry officials said in interviews here this week, and they warned that a collapse of water and sewage systems in the country is probably at the root of the illnesses.
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The disease, called Hepatitis E, is caused by a virus that is often spread by sewage-contaminated drinking water.
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The officials said that their limited ability to test for the virus had already been overwhelmed by the hepatitis outbreaks, suggesting that only a fraction of the actual cases have been diagnosed. But in Sadr City, a Baghdad slum that for months has been convulsed by gun battles between a local militia and American troops, as many as 155 cases have turned up.
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The second outbreak is in Mahmudiya, a town 56 kilometers, or 35 miles, south of Baghdad that is known as much for its kidnappings and drive-by shootings as for its poverty, where 60 suspected cases have been seen. At least nine pregnant women are believed to have been infected, and one has died. There have been five reported deaths overall. "We are saying that the real number is greatly more than this, because the area is greatly underreported," said Dr. Atta-alla Mekhlif al-Salmani, head of the viral hepatitis section at the Health Ministry's Center of Disease Control.
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[jumpstart33]

1. IF Saddam were in power this would be called "bio-terrorism"

What should it be called now that we control Iraq?

[Dark]

2. Operation Iraqis Bleeding?

:shrug: