A continuing cholera outbreak presents a “serious threat” to people in Syria and the wider region, the United Nations has warned.
In a statement on Tuesday, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria Imran Riza said the outbreak is believed to be linked to the irrigation of crops with contaminated water, as well as people drinking from the Euphrates river, which runs north to east in the country from the Turkish border to the Iraqi border, dissecting Syria’s northern Aleppo province.
At least 70 percent of the 936 cases recorded from August 25 to September 10 were reported in Aleppo, with more than 20 percent reported in Deir Az Zor. Other suspected cases were reported in Raqqa, Hassakeh, Hama and Latakia.
Richard Brennan, the regional emergency director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region, said the agency had recorded eight deaths from the disease since August 25 – six in Aleppo and two in Deir Az Zor.
Credit: Aljazeera.com
