From Holden:

Freedom Cholera On The March!

Cholera is spreading in Baghdad’s impoverished al-Amil quarter where overcrowding and contaminated water are leading to fears of an epidemic. City officials blame insurgent attacks on infrastructure for the outbreak in southwest Baghdad.

Children have so far been the worse affected, with one doctor at a Baghdad hospital saying he is now seeing young cholera patients on a daily basis.

Nadia Shawkat was in line at the Central Children’s Hospital waiting for a doctor to treat her daughter.

“My only baby girl has cholera, and the reason is water pollution, as the physician confirmed,” she said.

To prevent a further outbreak, Imad Hassoon, a pediatrician at the Central Children’s Hospital, has been advising parents to keep their children off the streets.

[snip]

Doctors told Hamza Rasheed that his three year old son got cholera from polluted tap water, but his complaints to the municipality and the Baghdad governorate have been largely ignored.

“The situation has stayed as it was, with an increase in the number of children getting this disease,” Rasheed said.