Cholera outbreak in Iraq dramatically worsens

The military 'progress' in Iraq hasn't improved the standard of living there.
The water supplies are contaminated and only available for a few hours. Cholera is spread by unsanitary water, and is a cruel wasting disease that kills by dehydration which forces one to drink even more of the contaminated water. Most third-world countries (that don't get $2 billion a week poured into them) can at least provide clean water to population centres. Further, the fact that warnings were ignored of this beforehand doesn't make the U.S. look pro-active.
The problem comes down to an unstable electrical grid, which doesn't allow pumps or waste water treatment facilities to be online for very long.

While only 10 deaths have been reported, unchanged since I first commented on the situation, the number of those infected can now be estimated and that number is currently 16,000.

Ironically, it is the "irrelevant" and "outdated" UN that is the only one doing anything concrete about it. I expect that we will see this as a model for the remainder of Bush's Presidency; the UN picks up the pieces that occupation creates. Bush will squeeze whatever allies we have left dry to avoid the consequences of his actions at home.

story from AFP:

Cholera infects 16,000 people in northern Iraq: WHO

1 day ago

GENEVA (AFP) — The cholera outbreak in northern Iraq has infected some 16,000 people since late August, of whom at least 10 have died, the World Health Organisation said on Friday.

Since August 23, at least 6,000 people have been reported with diarrhoeal diseases in Sulaymaniyah province, almost 7,000 in Kirkuk province and at least 3,000 in Erbil province, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told journalists.

The outbreak has so far remained confined to the three northeastern provinces, which have a population of three million people.

A UN team is working on the ground to help Iraqi authorities fight the epidemic and inspect water sources in the affected areas since the end of August.

The source of the epidemic remains unclear but the WHO remains confident it can be brought under control, Chaib said.

Naeema Al-Gasseer, the WHO's representative in Iraq, warned however that delays in ensuring access to safe water, safe food and enhanced hygiene practices could all lead to the further spread of cholera.

Northern Iraq suffered an earlier cholera outbreak in 1999, while the disease struck the southern province of Basra shortly before the US-lead invasion of 2003.