I hear there is a cholera outbreak in Iraq?

Question

Does our military have a means to protect our soldiers, airman, and marines from this disease.

Answer 1

There are current documented cases of cholera in Iraq, among Iraqis not US servemembers. I wouldn't call it an outbreak though. Cholera is spread because of unsanitary conditions. We're trained on field sanitation. I don't think that there's a vaccination against it, but our meidcal staff doesn't seem worried about it. They want us to be informed.

Answer 2

Cholera is a common disease in areas where there is poor sanitation and open sewers. The bacteria that causes the disease, _Vibrio_cholerae_, is a short, curved, motile, gram-negative, non-sporulating rod that causes vomiting, headache, intestinal cramping with little or no fever, followed rapidly by painless, voluminous diarrhea. Fluid loss can be up to 5-10 liters per day, and without treatment, death may result from severe dehydration, hypovolemia, and shock.

However, there is a cholera vaccine, which is part of the normal treatment regime for soldiers in theater, though it only provides protection for 6 months at a time, at which point a booster must be given. Prevention works even better, and requires washing of green, leafy vegetables and boiling of water from local sources.

Cholera outbreaks are common in the Middle East, because so many areas use grey water for irrigation, and have open sewers. While I was over there (Jordan, Kuwait, and Israel), I was warned explicitly NOT to eat raw, green, leafy vegetables, such as you might find at a salad bar, because cholera is so common over there.

But there is no specific epidemic. So not to worry.

Answer 3

There are about one dozen cases in northern Iraq. And one case in Baghdad. Cholera is endemic to Iraq. The current number of cases is far below the number in 1998, when we didn't even have any troops there. All troops are vaccinated against cholera.
Still, there will be some news outlets who will try and scare listeners and viewers about this. I only wonder if any of them will acknowledge that it was the Rockefeller Foundation which paid for the initial research that developed the vaccine. Yes, the same "robber baron" Rockefeller who stands for corporate greed.

Answer 4

There is cholera in all 3rd world countries. And yes, our ground personnel are well trained in proper hygiene to protect themselves. We are given purified water to drink and conduct personal hygiene and we are told NOT to eat the food given to us by the locals. We are also provided with hand sanitizer.

Answer 5

There is no Cholera epidemic in Iraq, and all of our troops there have been vaccinated for most diseases that might occur in that region.

Answer 6

Our troops have their own water so dont worry .

Answer 7

we are spreading the disease just like we put hiv/aids in the poor areas of american cities