USAID Official Reports 2,000+ Cholera Cases In Kabul - LA Times

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan capital is on the verge of a cholera epidemic, with more than 2,000 cases of the disease and at least eight deaths reported in recent weeks, a health expert warned Tuesday. Afghanistan's Health Ministry on Monday confirmed up to 300 cases, but claimed they have been dealt with and there had been no fatalities. It said there was no risk of the disease spreading.

But on Tuesday, Fred Hartman, technical director for a USAID-backed health and development program, told The Associated Press that eight or nine people had died in the past two weeks, and warned the disease could spread quickly throughout the city's 4 million population. "An epidemic is about to break out here. Over two thousand cases have been reported so far," said Hartman, who has been involved with efforts to contain the outbreak. "There are always deaths with cholera," he said.

Hartman said the government was well-equipped to deal with the outbreak and had set up an emergency task force to ensure that hospitals have the necessary equipment and medicine to treat patients. He said the disease had been detected in wells around the city, the source of drinking water for most of the city's residents, as well as irrigation ditches. Cholera is a major killer in developing countries, where it is spread mainly through contaminated food or water. The bacterium attacks the intestine and causes severe diarrhea and dehydration.

The warning was in stark contrast to Health Ministry official Ahmid Shah Shukomand's claim Monday that the outbreak had been contained. "We had about 200 to 300 cases, but they were discharged from hospitals after treatment," Shukomand told The Associated Press."

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Remain calm! All is well!

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_top15jun14,0,2344691.story

5000 British troops on the way :crazy:
What a mess....
Monkey Democracy Monkey freedom and gorilla bring cholera.
Still no bin laden :crazy:
Mission accomplish in Afghan :wtf:
Why are the soldiers dying?

I have read earlier reports on DU that Cuba claims to have developed a vaccine to prevent cholera. While the vaccine hasn't (And probably won't while Bush's Duck Soup Posse is in charge) been run through FDA testing, strategic as well as humanitarian considerations demand that the vaccine be put into production and folks in Afghanistan and Iraq start getting vaccinations.

I realize that some people have allowed their understandable loathing for the Duck Soup Posse and its Banana Republican supporters to convince themselves that Al Qaeda isn't real, but I think vaccinating the people under our care by international law outweighs our continuing taxpayer-subsidized family feud between the Diaz-Balarts and their former in-law Fidel Castro.

But we can't provide enough basic water and sanitation services to Afghanistan's capital city to prevent a cholera outbreak.

ChimpCo priorities...