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Article: To prevent spreading of parasitic disease, Defense department bans US soldiers returning from Iraq from giving blood.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Transplant News
- Article date:
- October 31, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Transplant Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The US Department of Defense (DOD) has banned all American soldiers returning from Iraq from giving blood for up to one year to prevent the possible spread of cutaneous Leishmaniasis. The restrictions will apply to soldiers for 12 months after their last day in Iraq, Reuters reported.
The precautionary ban was ordered by the DOD, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the nation's largest blood banking organizations after an outbreak of the disease among US soldiers serving in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan.
The deadly parasitic disease is spread by sand flies and can cause itchy skin lesions. A more serious form visceral ...