And now for some bad news. From the Italian news agency AGI, Sept. 12:

A cholera epidemic has affected at least 7,000 people in the northern provinces of Iraq and may reach Baghdad in the next few weeks. The accomplices were the terrible conditions of the water system and Iraqi infrastructures due to the war. The alert was raised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and has been confirmed by Baghdad authorities. The most affected areas are those of Kirkuk and Suleimaniya, where at least 10 people have died in the last month. However, according to the president of the Iraqi Red Crescent, Said Hakki, the "vibro cholerae" bacterium may have reared its head also in Erbil and Nineweh. Hakki's foremost concern is that of the latest contagion case, a young woman in a village between Kirkuk and Diyala, about 50 km from the capital. 'Baghdad is close,' he said. 'Cholera can spread through water like fire in a barn.' According to the WHO, grave cholera epidemics such as that which has appeared in northern Iraq "are usually caused by contaminated drinking water".

Don't say we didn't warn you.

See our last post on Iraq.