Experts to investigate Ozarks soldier's pneumonia death

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Epidemiologists are investigating two fatal cases of pneumonia among troops stationed in the Middle East and 10 other cases so severe that soldiers had to be placed on respirators, The Springfield News Leader reported.

A two-person team has already been sent to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, where Spc. Joshua Neusche, 20, of Montreal, Mo., was treated before his death on July 12. The U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office told The News Leader an additional six-person team is preparing to fly to undisclosed areas of Iraq, where other soldiers began suffering from the illness.

The cases under investigation have happened since March 1. Another soldier whose name wasn't released died about a month before Neusche on June 17.

Col. Robert DeFraites, the surgeon general's senior preventative-medicine physician, said officials have not yet been able to identify a specific bacterium or virus that could have caused such severe cases of pneumonia.

"It's not entirely unheard of for this to happen," said DeFraites, adding that 17 soldiers have died from acute respiratory distress syndrome in the past five years.

However, he said it is uncommon for pneumonia to cause a breakdown in organs other than the lungs.

Neusche's parents said that's what happened to their son. Mark and Cynthia Neusche said they were told their son's kidneys, liver and muscles began to deteriorate after he contracted the illness.

"The doctor said (Josh) got into some type of toxin that began degenerating his muscles," Mark Neusche said Friday.

The investigation comes at a time of overall concerns about pneumonia. DeFraites said there has been a noticeable increase in pneumonia cases among soldiers since the war in Iraq began. DeFraites didn't release specific numbers, but said the incidents of pneumonia are exceeding military expectations of 10 to 20 cases among deployed soldiers each month. Most of the patients have served in Kuwait and Iraq.

Aside from bacteria and viruses, he said, pneumonia can also be brought on by fungus, parasites and noninfectious causes such as exposure to metal dust. DeFraites said preliminary tests show the illness is not passed from person to person and is not related to severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.

During the roughly monthlong investigation, the teams of epidemiologists will study everything from the soldiers' medical records and tissue samples to soil, water and air samples. DeFraites said infectious agents such as anthrax and smallpox also will be investigated.

"Nothing's going to be ruled out," DeFraites said. "When you go into one of these things, you keep an open mind. ... There's enough concern about these two fatal cases (occurring) in such a short period of time" to warrant the investigation.

Stephen Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center a veterans advocacy group, said he is encouraged that an investigation is under way.

"We serve veterans of the last Gulf War, many who have had exposures to elements that made them ill," Robinson said.

"Our interest in this instance is to make sure we hear the truth and we don't let events like this get buried and never resolved. We're out there fighting for these guys who are fighting for us."