Beriberi kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

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http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=101401&sectionid=351020501

Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops
Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:56:17 GMT
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African Union troops ride an armored vehicle in a convoy through the streets of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.
At least three African Union soldiers serving in the peacekeeping mission in Somalia have died in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi under mysterious circumstances.

Sources within the AU said on Wednesday that the cause of the mysterious illness that led to the death of Burundian soldiers based in Mogadishu was unknown but investigations were underway for possibility of water poisoning.

Major Barigye Bahoku, the Commander of AU troops in Somalia confirmed that 16 other soldiers were admitted at a Nairobi hospital, adding that "they may have been bitten by some insects that caused the illness".

AU sources said a team of experts has been dispatched to Somalia to investigate the cause of the deaths.

Some 35000-strong AU troops, comprising of Ugandan and Burundian soldiers have been deployed in the war-torn nation since 2007 as part of an internationally-backed efforts to support the embattled UN-backed interim government.

RZS/SME/RE

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

We now have confirmation of this from a reputable source. Note the increase to 21 ill, but still no mention of the symptoms. This could be really bad, as if this is contagious, it is in the capitals of two different countries. I now suspect a ProMed alert very quickly. The hospital facilities in Nairobi may not be great, but if they can't diagnose this, that's a problem.

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE56M0BV20090723

Illness in Somalia kills 3 peacekeepers
Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:18am GMT
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1 of 1Full SizeBy Frank Nyakairu
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Three Burundian peacekeepers based in Somalia have died from an unknown illness and 18 more are in a Kenyan hospital with the same symptoms, an African Union (AU) official said on Thursday.

There are some 4,300 soldiers from Burundi and Uganda in Somalia's capital defending key sites and helping government forces fight off regular attacks from hardline insurgents with links to al Qaeda.

"The African Union and the Burundian government have dispatched a team of medical experts to ascertain what has caused an illness in a Burundian contingent," said Gaffel Nkolokosa, spokesman for the AU envoy to Somalia.

"Twenty-one soldiers were evacuated earlier this week after exhibiting similar symptoms and three of those have since died," he said, declining to speculate on the cause of the illness or what the symptoms were.

Somalia's transitional government is hemmed into a few blocks of the capital Mogadishu by rebels bent on toppling President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed and imposing their own harsh version of sharia law throughout the country.

Western nations fear that if the al Shabaab group, and the foreign fighters within its ranks, seize control of Somalia, they could destabilise neighbouring countries and train militants to launch attacks elsewhere.

While al Shabaab controls much of southern and central Somalia, the presence of AU troops has effectively led to a military stalemate in the capital with neither side able to deliver a knock out blow.

At least 15 people were killed and 53 wounded in heavy fighting in three districts of Mogadishu that started late on Wednesday and continued on Thursday morning, according to Ali Muse from the Life Line ambulance service. Continued...

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

The illness could be anything. It could even be somthing common to africa.

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

There is even a possibility this could be H1N1.

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

It could be, but neither country has been able to diagnose this for a week. That's a bad sign. It could be something common like typhoid, but one would think that in that case they would have diagnosed this. This isn't occurring in some remote village; it's occurring in the capitals of two countries.

It's difficult to hazard a guess as to what it might be without knowing the symptoms, though.

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

There is even a possibility this could be H1N1.

If the symptoms are respiratory, yes. But the fatality rate is a little high given that all the soldiers are from the same battalion, so there wouldn't be too many missed milder cases. And Kenya has confirmed H1N1 cases, so they could have detected that.

But without knowing the symptoms, it is tough to even imagine what the illness is.

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Don't know if this pertains to this outreak but here is something nearby:

Somalia: AWD Kills Two Children Near Afgoi Town
21 July 2009

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Somalia ? At least two children have been killed and more than 10 others are in very critical condition after Acute Watery Dairrhoea (AWD) outbroke near Afgoi town 30 kilomiters south of the Somali capiatal Mogadishu, wtnesses told Shabelle radio on Tuesday.

reports from Afgoi town in Lower Shabelle region say that AWD has outbroken there as more children are in a risk to die for the disease killing two children as most of the effected children were rushed to the main hospital in the town to get urgent healthcare to protact the disease.

health officials said that the disease caused problems due to the rainy season which most of the children drink dirty water on the roads as more displaced people are in the town currently.

the residents of the town called for the Somalis and aid agencies to give them support of medicine to prevent the Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) which is spreading and affecting more other children in the tow in.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200907210806.html

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Cholera is definitely on the list of suspects, but again it has been confirmed in both countries, so it wouldn't remain a mystery illness for long. Also keep in mind that the soldiers are from Burundi, and had contact with soldiers from Uganda (and there is an undiagnosed outbreak in Uganda suspected to be typhoid), so the illness could have come from any of those three countries.

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

It is truly bizarre, though, that we can't find any description of the symptoms, even to give us some kind of idea what this might be (respiratory, diarrheal, hemorrhagic, poisoning, neurological?). Each of those categories suggests a different type of agent.

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

I know alert, this could be any disease in existance.

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

I know alert, this could be any disease in existance.

At least any disease with a high fatality rate that a Kenyan hospital can't diagnose.

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

I just went digging everywhere I could look, and the only two articles about this are the two that start this thread. I can't believe that isn't a local source that has more detail.

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Must be a secret.

 

[alert]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Can someone send the first two articles to ProMed - this is in Reuters already, so ProMed was a little behind on this one. We're going to get "Undiagnosed fatalities, Kenya ex Somalia", I fear. I'm not going to get much sleep tonight...

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

This article seems to indicate that 2,000 people might have symptoms:

Mystery Illness Kills 3 Burundian Peacekeepers in Somalia
By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
23 July 2009




Three Burundian soldiers attached to the African Union's peacekeeping force in Somalia have died of an unknown illness and 18 more from the same unit are in the hospital in Kenya with the same symptoms.

Officials at the African Union say 21 Burundian peacekeepers were evacuated to neighboring Kenya earlier this week after they fell ill and began showing similar symptoms.

Three of the soldiers have died from the illness and the remaining 18 are still in a hospital in Nairobi. Their symptoms and conditions have not been released to the media.

The African Union says a medical team has been sent to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to find out what might have caused the illness among the 2,000 Burundian soldiers deployed there. The Burundians and another contingent of troops from Uganda make up the 4,300-member peacekeeping force in Somalia, known as AMISOM.

Five months ago, Burundi lost 11 peacekeepers in a devastating insurgent attack on their compound in Mogadishu. African Union officials declined to say whether they believe foul play was involved in causing the deadly illness among the Burundian soldiers.

Since the first group of Ugandan soldiers arrived in Mogadishu in March 2007, Somalia's al-Qaida-linked militants, al-Shabab, and other insurgent groups have repeatedly targeted AMISOM troops, accusing them of being an army sent by the West to prop up Somalia's weak transitional government. Al-Shabab controls large parts of southern Somalia and views AMISOM as the biggest obstacle in its quest to take full control of the capital.

AMISOM has largely remained neutral in the conflict in Somalia, in line with their mandate that limits them to keeping key sites in Mogadishu, including the presidential palace, and the main airport and seaport from falling into insurgent hands. But earlier this month, AMISOM troops angered al-Shabab when the peacekeepers openly fought alongside government forces in street battles and forced the militants to retreat from several districts.

In the latest round of violence, witnesses in Mogadishu say hundreds of heavily armed insurgents attacked positions held by government soldiers and AMISOM troops late Wednesday, triggering a firefight that spread to three districts in Mogadishu and continued until early Thursday morning. More than a dozen people were reported killed and as many as 60 others were wounded.

Heavy fighting also erupted for the second day in the central Galgadud region between al-Shabab and a pro-government religious group called Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a.

An al-Shabab spokesman, Ali Dhere, told reporters in Mogadishu that Ahlu-Sunna started the fight by attacking an al-Shabab base in the region.

Dhere says al-Shabab defended the base and achieved "a great victory over the infidels".

But witnesses say the fighting is still continuing with both sides taking heavy casualties.

"Infidels" is a reference to Sufi Muslims, who make up Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a. Al-Shabab follows the Salafist/Wahabist tenet of Islam. Sectarian tensions between the two Islamic factions have been escalating since late last year.

In January, al-Shabab lost control of two key towns in Galgadud to Ahlu-Sunna Wal-Jama'a. The two groups have been battling ever since for control of the region.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-07-23-voa37.cfm

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

I believe the 2,000 is the total number of Burundian troops in Somalia, along with 2,300 troops from Uganda. I don't think all 2,000 are ill. But an intentional poisoning as an act of war is definitely possible.

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

What type of poisoning would be possible, alert? Bio-weapon? Pesticides?

 

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Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Rat poison? Arsenic? They are fighting insurgents who would use unconventional methods. But speculating on a poison is as difficult if not more so than speculating on an infectious agent, when we don't know the symptoms.

There is definitely something telling that the symptoms are a secret. My suspicion is that hemorrhage might be a symptom (even if it is a poisoning), and releasing that information would freak out all of Nairobi. But that's just a possibility.

 

[Rwilmer]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

There definently is alot of cholera in that area, they did mention a possible water source:

Somalia: New reports of Cholera outbreak
July 21, 2009 ? Comments (0)

photo: AP/Karel Prinsloo | read this item By: Mohamed Osman
Horseed Media


Reports from Bay region, central Somalia, are confirming that at least three people have died so far for cholera, medical officers warn for lack of medicine.

Two children and one elderly lady were confirmed to be the latest victims of the cholera outbreak in Bay region. Regional medical officials say, more people are hospitalized for the disease which is spreading in central Somalia.

??we don?t have enough medicine and more people are arriving in the hospital?.? Said Baidoa hospital staff, where more than 8 people where hospitalized, yesterday.

More cholera outbreak cases are reported from neighboring regions.

In lower Shebelle region 2 children were confirmed dead, and more than 10 people were put into hospitals.

Latest reports indicate that the cholera outbreak might spread to other regions in south and central Somalia.

Horseed Media

http://english.horseedmedia.net/news/24121.shtml

 

[alert]

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

Re: Mysterious illness kills 3 AU troops; sickens at least 19

There definently is alot of cholera in that area, they did mention a possible water source:

http://english.horseedmedia.net/news/24121.shtml

Which is why I think cholera is unlikely; they would have diagnosed it. They also mentioned insects as a vector, which kind of seems unlikely. They have absolutely no clue what this is or where it came from. I don't think they realize that just by releasing the symptoms, people like ProMed can help them find a diagnosis. It does seem though, that this disease kills quickly; I believe this outbreak started just a few days ago, as the articles mention that all 21 people were evacuated this week.