Iraqi Doctors Name New Disease That Threatens Thousands "Blackwater"

IPS :

Iraqi doctors in al-Anbar province warn of a new disease they call "Blackwater" that threatens the lives of thousands. The disease is named after Blackwater Worldwide, the U.S. mercenary company operating in Iraq.

"This disease is a severe form of malarial infection caused by the parasite plasmodium falciparum, which is considered the worst type of malarial infection," Dr. Ali Hakki from Fallujah told IPS. "It is one of the complications of that infection, and not the ordinary picture of the disease. Because of its frequent and severe complications, such as Blackwater fever, and its resistance to treatment, P. falciparum can cause death within 24 hours."

What Iraqis now call Blackwater fever is really a well-known medical condition, and while it has nothing to do with Blackwater Worldwide, Iraqis in al-Anbar province have decided to make the connection between the disease and the lethal U.S.-based company which has been responsible for the death of countless Iraqis.

The disease is most prevalent in Africa and Asia. The patient suffers severe intravascular haemolysis -- the destruction of red blood cells leading to kidney and liver failure. It also leads to black or red urination, and hence perhaps the new name 'Blackwater'.

Read the whole story: IPS

Comments

[Advocate123]

I'm surprised they didn't name it "Rachel Carson," since she is responsible for more deaths than Blackwater by the billions!!

http://copiousdissent.blogspot.com/2007/07/joseph-stalin-mao-zedong-adolf-hitler.html

[Marichu]

The link that you provided tweaked my curiosity. I decided to obtain more information regarding the use of DDT to combat malaria. The following was gathered from several sources including an article from the BBC dated Sept. 15, 2006 and the Heartland Institute.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reversed a 30-year policy by endorsing the use of DDT for malaria control. The chemical is sprayed inside houses to kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Indoor spraying is the application of long-acting insecticides on the walls and roofs of houses and animal shelters in order to kill malaria-carrying mosquitoes that land there. One application may last as a long as a year. DDT has been banned globally for every use except fighting disease because of its environmental impacts and fears for human health. WHO says there is no health risk, and DDT should rank with bednets and drugs as a tool for combating malaria, which kills more than one million each year.
A bill in Congress (currently it's known as the Senate version of H.R. 3057) would reform the U.S. Agency for International Development so that insecticides like DDT could be added to the arsenal for fighting malaria. President Bush announced in July that U.S. taxpayers would spend $1.2 billion for world malaria control over the next five years.
Thank you for the link. Even though I felt its premise was simplistic and focused more on finger pointing than fact gathering.

[Quaoar]

Nice Try. DDT is still legal in most third-world countries where malaria is rampant.

[Tariqahmed]

Kala= black

azar=water

Blackwater is ignoble as the new US Corporation doing bad business in IRAQ.
Coinage is not new.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

This, I would guess, is news to Blackwater.

Maybe they should change their name to "Mercenaries -- American, Unwelcome, Lawless , Inc."

Or MAUL for short.

[Tariqahmed]

This not new.

Black Water or Kala Azar is an old disease.