BAGHDAD, Dec. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- A total of 640 people were infected with tuberculosis in the city of Diwaniyah, 180 km south of Baghdad, local newspaper Azzaman reported on Monday.

    "Most of the cases are of the ages between 15 to 45 years old, and most of them are residents of the villages near the city," doctor Hassan Sharif Hussein, director of the consultative clinic for chest and respiratory diseases in Diwaniyah, was quoted as saying.

    He pointed out that the hospitals and the health centers in the city were suffering acute shortage in medicine and vaccines for this disease.

    The US-led invasion and the following waves of violence have left Iraq with great damage in its infrastructure and a dire need for basic necessities such as clean water and medicine. Enditem