Disease in Iraq called after Blackwater

This video from the USA is called Blackwater, America’s Private Army.

From IPS news agency:

IRAQ: Fever Named After Blackwater

By Ali al-Fadhily and Dahr Jamail

FALLUJAH, Mar 26 (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. …

It also leads to black or red urination, and hence perhaps the new name ‘Blackwater‘.

The deadly disease, never before seen in Iraq on at least this scale, seems to be spreading across the country. And Iraq lacks medicines, hospitals, and doctors to lead a campaign to fight the disease. …

The three doctors who spoke to IPS in Fallujah and in Ramadi in al-Anbar province that lies west of Baghdad, seemed sure that the Iraqi government would do little to face the plague.

“They have not even made any announcement so that people can take precautions,” one of the doctors from Fallujah told IPS. …

“Many have died within the past two weeks in my town,” Mahmood Nassir, a schoolteacher from Saqlawiya, north of Fallujah, told IPS. “We know it is a deadly disease, but what can we do about it? We have no government to refer to, and everyone in the Green Zone (the government district of Baghdad) is too busy preparing to escape with their share of the money they stole from us.” …

The disease seems too sensitive for journalists to talk about.

“There was a great deal of anger when we wrote about cholera in Iraq last summer,” a journalist in Fallujah told IPS. “Neither the government nor the occupation forces would accept our covering such a story.”

Iraqis Claim Marines Are Pushing Christianity in Fallujah: here.