7 more cases of mystery illness (soldiers in Iraq)

Lake Sun Leader ^ | Marsha Paxson

[Ditter]

Sorry, I should have known what you meant.

[Amelia]

I don't think shells were coated in it to assist with cutting the air better.

Not that I'm a great military mind, but I think shells were made of it because it's very dense, i.e., shells of the same size would be much heavier.

[faithincowboys]

Bin Laden is probably dead. I haven't seen him in a long time. I think he would have made a videotape during the Iraq War.

[FairOpinion]

I found another article about this, with some duplicate info, but also some new information:

http://newstribune.com/stories/072903/sta_0729030008.asp

Experts to investigate Ozarks soldier's death




SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Epidemiologists are investigating two fatal cases of pneumonia among troops stationed in the Middle East and 10 other cases so severe that soldiers had to be placed on respirators, The Springfield News Leader reported.

A two-person team has already been sent to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where Spc. Joshua Neusche, 20, of Montreal, Mo., was treated before his death on July 12. The U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office told The News Leader an additional six-person team is preparing to fly to undisclosed areas of Iraq, where other soldiers began suffering from the illness.

The cases under investigation have happened since March 1. Another soldier whose name wasn't released died about a month before Neusche on June 17.

Col. Robert DeFraites, the surgeon general's senior preventative-medicine physician, said officials have not yet been able to identify a specific bacterium or virus that could have caused such severe cases of pneumonia.

"It's not entirely unheard of for this to happen," said DeFraites, adding that 17 soldiers have died from acute respiratory distress syndrome in the past five years.

However, he said it is uncommon for pneumonia to cause a breakdown in organs other than the lungs.

Neusche's parents said that's what happened to their son. Mark and Cynthia Neusche said they were told their son's kidneys, liver and muscles began to deteriorate after he contracted the illness.

"The doctor said (Josh) got into some type of toxin that began degenerating his muscles," Mark Neusche said Friday.

The investigation comes at a time of overall concerns about pneumonia. DeFraites said there has been a noticeable increase in pneumonia cases among soldiers since the war in Iraq began. DeFraites didn't release specific numbers, but said the incidents of pneumonia are exceeding military expectations of 10 to 20 cases among deployed soldiers each month. Most of the patients have served in Kuwait and Iraq.

Aside from bacteria and viruses, he said, pneumonia can also be brought on by fungus, parasites and noninfectious causes such as exposure to metal dust. DeFraites said preliminary tests show the illness is not passed from person to person and is not related to severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

During the roughly monthlong investigation, the teams of epidemiologists will study everything from the soldiers' medical records and tissue samples to soil, water and air samples. DeFraites said infectious agents such as anthrax and smallpox also will be investigated.

"Nothing's going to be ruled out," DeFraites said. "When you go into one of these things, you keep an open mind. ... There's enough concern about these two fatal cases (occurring) in such a short period of time" to warrant the investigation.

Stephen Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center a veterans advocacy group, said he is encouraged that an investigation is under way.

"We serve veterans of the last Gulf War, many who have had exposures to elements that made them ill," Robinson said.

"Our interest in this instance is to make sure we hear the truth and we don't let events like this get buried and never resolved. We're out there fighting for these guys who are fighting for us."

[lepton]

Neusche's family could not afford to make the trip to Germany and was told he was in a coma, dying of a flu-like ailment.

What about space-available military flights? I suppose they might complain at being put on a cargo plane, but that opportunity should have been there - and I had thought, normally was.

[lepton]

There is no scientific evidence supporting DU as a health hazard.

Be careful about such broad statements. That is dependent on environment. If one works closely with frequent direct contact or a lot of DU dust (like if you are finely grinding it), it is indeed a danger. That is though, an environment quite diferent from the aftermath of a battle-field, where most is widely dispersed solids.

[mark502inf]

"There is no scientific evidence supporting DU as a health hazard."

Be careful about such broad statements.

Good point. Should have more clearly put it in context; we were discussing DU on the battlefield.

[IYAS9YAS]

Most all diet drinks have phenylalanine (to which, phenylketonurics are allergic). Also, most diet drinks contain aspartame.

[IYAS9YAS]

http://alwaysyourchoice.com/ayc/nutrition/diet_weight/sugar_substitutes.php

this link says aspartame is heat stable.

[YaYa123]

ARmy Col Robert Defraites, very forthcoming, very specific in responding to questions.

Dr. Sue Bailey, MSNBC medical analyst, seems to me to imply that this might very well need to be studied as more than just incidental pnemonia, related to environmental causes. She said many of the biological weapons, (and she listed some), present themselves as pnemonia. She says the number of cases is suspicious, and the fact that the Army has separated out the 2 who have died with the 15 "serious" cases, from the 100 or so less serious cases. This means to her, she said, that the Army is studying them more seriously, to include the 2 autopsy results which aren't completed yet.

She said it is unusual for young people to die from pnemonia.

( Again my reading on her comments) I do think she was leading viewers to consider the possibility that this might be some kind of intentional biological agent affecting our soldiers.

My thought on that: If caused by a biological agent, it's pretty inefficient to have only affected so few. And as the Colonel pointed out, the cases weren't all in the same area. One was from Afghanistan, one from Ubecistan,(sp), and I think he even said one was stricken in Kuwait.

As I listened to the Col., I understood him to say more cases had occured in June and July, than March, when the first one showed up. Sounds as if hot weather might have something to do with it, and he kept mentioning "dust" as a factor.