ProMED-mail post
Troops in Iraq contract sand-fly disease
Wed Dec 10 16:54:15 2003
64.140.158.177

A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2003
From: Dan Moynihan moynihan@lpl.arizona.edu
Source: Arizona Daily Star [accessed 8 December 2003] [edited]
http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/31208nIraq-skin.html

About 150 troops in Iraq contract sand-fly disease
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The Army's 101st Airborne Division has sent 20 soldiers to Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in Washington for treatment for a skin disease
transmitted by bites from sand flies in Iraq, the military said.

Another 10 to 20 soldiers from the 101st Airborne, based in Mosul in
northern Iraq, are under observation for the illness, called leishmaniasis,
said Maj. Trey Cate, a division spokesman. "We are concerned about the
health and welfare of the soldiers, hence we have evacuated them to a major
medical center where this disease -- which does not exist in the U.S. --
can be treated by the experts and studied in ways that are impossible in
the field," Cate said Sunday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

The disease is known as "Baghdad Boil" to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, and can
leave disfiguring lesions on the skin for months. Cate said the U.S.
military took measures against the sand flies before deploying soldiers in
Iraq, issuing insect repellent to soldiers and impregnating their uniforms
and insect netting with permethrin, an insecticide.

Leishmaniasis is more common in rural than urban areas, but it is found on
the outskirts of some cities, according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta. Risk [of transmission] is highest between dusk
and dawn. Vaccines and drugs for preventing infections are not currently
available. About 150 U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq have been diagnosed with
leishmaniasis, and more may have been infected with the disease, according
to U.S. newspaper reports. The disease can take months to incubate.

--
Dan Moynihan
Staff Engineer, VIMS Operations
Space Sciences Bldg 401, University of Arizona
1629 E. University Blvd
Tucson, AZ 85721-0092
moynihan@lpl.arizona.edu

[ProMED has reported extensively on the prevalence of leishmaniasis in Iraq
and the risk of being infected [please refer to previous postings listed
below]. Leishmaniasis is endemic in Iraq, and with an incubation period of
6 months or more, it is no surprise that the number of cases is now rising.
Leishmaniasis is transmitted by small flies (sand flies), and the only
prevention is repellents and impregnation of clothes with insecticides,
which may not be completely protective. The WHO review of the risks of
infectious diseases in Iraq -- including leishmaniasis -- can be found at:
http://www.who.int/infectiousdiseasenews/IDdocs/whocds200317/1profile.pdf
- Mod.EP]
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Sand Flies Active—and Dangerous—in Iraq
... Service members returning from Iraq may have been bitten by the sand fly that causes
the disease and may have the parasite in the blood stream, but they may ...
http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/news/releases/20031031LeishmaniasisWeb.cfm

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