BAGHDAD, 17 September 2007 (IRIN) - The number of suspected cholera cases in northern Iraq continues to rise, but the outbreak has so far been limited to three provinces, a Health Ministry official said on 15 September.
"No new cases have been discovered yet in other parts of Iraq but cases are still being discovered in Sulaimaniyah, Arbil and Kirkuk [all in the north],” Adel Muhsin, the Health Ministry's inspector-general, told IRIN in a telephone interview.
Since the disease broke out on 23 August, 10 people have died, some 1,100 have been confirmed with cholera, and 15,000 are showing symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting, Muhsin said.
He urged the regional health authorities to increase the chlorine content in mains water supplies to help prevent the disease from spreading.
Muhsin said medicines and supplies such as chlorine tablets, rapid diagnostic tests, interagency diarrhoeal disease kits and laboratory equipment had been sent to the northern regional authorities to meet their needs.
Sherko Abdullah, the head of Sulaimaniyah health directorate, highlighted the potential problem with water. He said the most affected areas were new ones where there was no drinking water supply network and where residents depended on wells or bought their water from tankers selling unclean water.
Fears disease could spread
There is concern among health officials in Baghdad that the disease could spread to the country’s central provinces owing to the large-scale movement of people between northern and central areas of the country and the fact that many cities are on the River Tigris.
Heath authorities in Baghdad have set up an emergency centre to monitor the situation, and teams are regularly testing drinking water in Baghdad, Muhsin said.
Particularly at risk is the sprawling, impoverished Shia suburb of Al-Sadr City, which has over half of Baghdad’s population but lacks health care services, clean water and proper sewage systems, said Ali Bustan Al Fartousi, general manager of the Rasafa Health Department.
WHO report
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 23 August and 10 September Sulaimaniyah Province had 6,142 cases of acute watery diarrhoea, including nine deaths.
In Kirkuk, a total of 6,749 cases, including one death, were reported from 29 July to 12 September, while 11,641 cases with no deaths were reported in Arbil Province between 1 and 10 September, WHO said in a statement on 14 September.
"Water samples from public water supply sources are being collected and tested routinely to ensure they meet potable water safety standards," WHO said, adding that water supply systems in the affected districts had been chlorinated by the provincial authorities.
"The provision of safe water and sanitation is a formidable challenge but remains the critical factor in reducing the impact of the current outbreak,” Naima Al-Gassir, the WHO representative, said.
