Army Sends Teams to Probe Iraq Illness

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Army Sends Teams to Probe Iraq Illness

> By PAULINE JELINEK

> Associated Press Writer

>

> August 1, 2003, 12:40 PM EDT

>

> WASHINGTON -- The Army is trying to figure out what is causing a rash of

> serious pneumonia cases, including two fatalities, among soldiers serving

> in Iraq.

>

> A six-person team of specialists was en route to Iraq Friday to

investigate

> 14 cases of pneumonia serious enough that the soldiers had to be put on

> ventilators to breathe and evacuated from the region, the Army Surgeon

> General's office said Friday.

>

> Two soldiers died, nine recovered and three were still hospitalized as of

> Thursday, spokeswoman Lyn Kukral said.

>

> The team on its way to Iraq includes infectious disease experts,

laboratory

> officers and people who will take samples of soil, water and air.

>

> So far, officials have identified no infectious agent common to all the

> cases. There is no evidence any of the cases were caused by exposure to

> chemical or biological weapons, environmental toxins or Severe Acute

> Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), officials said.

>

> A two-person team already has gone to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in

> Germany, where most of the cases were treated after evacuation. The two

> teams also will review patient records and laboratory results and

interview

> health care workers and patients, if possible, said a statement from the

> Army Surgeon General and U.S. Army Medical Command.

>

> The teams will be looking for similarities among the cases, which so far

> have hit troops in geographically dispersed areas and from different

units,

> said the Thursday statement. They also were spread over time, with two in

> March, three in April, two in May, three in June and four in July.

>

> Though only 14 cases were considered serious, there have been 100 cases

> altogether since March 1 among troops that began deploying late last years

> to the Persian Gulf.

>

> Army-wide, pneumonia cases serious enough to warrant hospitalization

happen

> in about 9 of 10,000 soldiers per year. Given the number of troops

> deployed, the 100 cases " do not exceed expectations, " the surgeon

general's

> office said.

>

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-iraq-soldier-illness,0,4

899612.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

>