Northern Iraq battles cholera 'epidemic'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Northern Iraq battles cholera 'epidemic'*
by Staff Writers
Geneva (AFP) Sept 12, 2007
The World Health Organisation said Tuesday that Iraqi authorties were
dealing with an "epidemic" of nearly 7,000 suspected cholera cases in
three northeastern provinces.
Only 290 cases have been confirmed in laboratory tests, but WHO
spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the agency considered all cases of acute
watery diarrhoea should be considered as carrying the "vibrio cholerae"
bacteria.
At the end of August, authorities in Sulaimaniyah had reported 2,000
suspected cases and six deaths, while the WHO said another source was
found in Kirkuk.
Chaib said Tuesday that six laboratory confirmed cases were also
reported in Erbil.
"It is unclear what is the cause of the epidemic," Chaib told journalists.
"There is some evidence in Sulaimaniyah... that polluted water on which
the local people were forced to rely on may have been to blame, and in
Kirkuk a cracked water pipe."
"We are confident that it can be contained," she told journalists.
The WHO has sent two truckloads of antibiotics to the region, while the
Iraqi government and provincial authorities have also taken measures to
combat the disease.
The agency is not recommending any special travel or trade restrictions
for the affected area, it said in a statement.
Previous cholera outbreaks hit northern Iraq in 1999 and southern areas
around Basra shortly after the US-led invasion in 2003.