Skin infection hits seven Mosul areas, sources blame war aftermath
Displaced Iraqi family from Mosul eat a simple meal for their Iftar, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan at a refugee camp al-Khazir in the outskirts of Erbil, Iraq June 10, 2017. Picture taken June 10, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro
Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Nearly 450 people in Mosul are showing symptoms of a skin infection believed to be resulting from the aftermath of the Iraqi government’s war against Islamic State militants in the city.
Alsumaria News quoted a source in Nineveh Province saying in a press statement that “a mobile healthcare team has found 450 cases of injuries and skin diseases, including women and children, in Mosul al-Jadida, al-Resala, al-Orouba, al-Farouq, al-Zanjili, al-Tahwra and al-Sahha, west of Mosul.
“The reason for those wounds will become clearer after special lab tests, but it is probably a sort of an eczema,” the source said. “There are some clear symptoms, such as red spots which could impede the patient’s movement”.
According to the source, “the disease could be attributed to exposure to chemical substances or contact with war leftovers, as well as air and water pollution resulting from materials used in military munitions”.
He argued that “many of the weapons used in those regions were used against Daesh (Islamic State) terrorists”.
Rashad al-Jabbouri, a doctor at al-Salam Hospital in Mosul, told Alsumaria News that the city continues to suffer from the lack of medical supplies and the devastation of medical facilities in the wet. “Therefore, the health conditions are continuously deteriorating”.
Iraqi forces recaptured Mosul, the birthplace of Islamic State’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”, in July after more than eight months of battles. Iraq declared the defeat of IS from all Iraqi territories earlier this month.
Throughout the Mosul battle, Iraqi commanders and allied U.S.-led coalition forces fought off accusations of using chemical weapons. IS militants also faced similar accusations.