SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Fallen under the shadows of civil war for more than a decade, the Cholera outbreak spread severely in Syria, and the WHO on Tuesday called for an urgent response.
Syria reports the first Cholera case since pre-civil war 2009, the World Health Organization said the cases after cases were recorded in at least five of the country’s 14 provinces.
The outbreak does not differ between the Regions, earlier on Monday, the Syrian health ministry reported two cholera deaths in government-held areas. While in Kurdish-controlled territories three deaths were reported on Saturday.
The United Nations representative in the country said that “the outbreak is a serious threat to people in Syria and the region.”
Cholera illness is generally contracted from contaminated food or water and causes diarrhea and vomiting.
The outbreak is believed to be linked to irrigation of crops using contaminated water and people drinking unsafe water from the Euphrates River, said, U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Imran Riza said in a statement.
Syrian infrastructures are collapsed due to the civil war destruction that lasting for more than a decade, and much of the country’s population is depending on unsafe water sources.
The outbreak is centered in the northern Aleppo region, where more than 70% of a total of 936 suspected cases have been recorded, and in Deir al-Zor where more than 20% were registered since August 25.
Earlier in June Syria’s neighbor, Iraq was hit by a cholera outbreak, the first reported case since 2015 but soon disappeared.
Left untreated, cholera can be fatal within hours, even in previously healthy people. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening.
