NewsMine — deceptions — war-syndrome — 2003 — Viewing Item

Army rules out iraqi weapons { August 7 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.iht.com/articles/105507.html http://www.iht.com/articles/105507.html Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com Iraqi arms doubted in GI sickness Lawrence K. Altman NYT Thursday, August 7, 2003 100 pneumonia cases still puzzle the army The U.S. Army is fairly close to ruling out biological or chemical weapons as the source of a puzzling spate of pneumonia cases among troops in Iraq and other countries in the war region, according to Pentagon officials. From March 1 through July 30, about 100 cases of pneumonia were reported among all U.S. troops deployed in the region, the officials said Tuesday, and doctors have not been able to determine the cause of the disease in most of them. In 15 of the cases, the pneumonia was severe enough to require attaching the patients to mechanical respirators. Ten of those cases occurred in Iraq, where most troops are deployed; the others occurred in Kuwait, Qatar and Uzbekistan. Two have died. Both served in Iraq, and one died there. The other died after being taken to Germany. The army has assigned two teams of medical investigators to determine the cause of the pneumonia. Epidemiologists are focusing on environmental factors like dust and dehydration because they have ruled out SARS, Legionnaires' disease, anthrax, smallpox and other infectious agents as a cause of the illness. Colonel Bob DeFraites, the army's chief of preventive medicine, said at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday that he was "pretty close to ruling out" biological or chemical weapons as a source. Military officials said the number of cases and deaths was about usual for the size of the population involved. But despite the small numbers, they said, they were concerned about the serious cases and the number of deaths. About three deaths from pneumonia occur on average among all army troops each year, DeFraites said, "so two occurring in one area of the world in about a month was enough to cause us concern" and to lead to an epidemiologic investigation. DeFraites said he was constrained from disclosing the total number of troops deployed in the region by military security. One of the most puzzling aspects of the pneumonia is the sporadic nature of the cases and the lack of a discernible pattern of transmission. "No two of the cases share any common unit or exact day or time," DeFraites said, and there is no evidence that it was spread person to person. Fourteen of the patients were soldiers and one was a marine. Two cases occurred in March, two in April, one in May, six in June and four in July, he said. One of the two deaths occurred in June, the other in July. Full autopsy reports are expected in about 10 days. The New York Times Copyright © 2003 The International Herald Tribune

Army rules out iraqi weapons { August 7 2003 } Chest pains after serving in gulf Deadly illness threatening soldiers in iraq Experts warn radioactive battlefields Geiger counter proves du risk { May 15 2003 } Military says pneumonia cases from smoking Mysterious diseases haunt troops New fear iraq depleted uranium { May 11 2003 } Parents say chemical weapons { August 4 2003 } Soldier dies of embolism in iraq Solider lived out his dreams Surgeon general investigate soldier sickness Symptons of pneumonia like illness Unknown illness sweeps us troops { October 2 2003 } Vaccines link raised in troops death Files Listed: 15

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.