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Ten people have died and 5,000 more have contracted cholera in northern Iraq |
CAIRO — Cholera is spreading like wildfire in northern Iraq with thousands contracting the deadly water-borne disease, bringing another plight to the occupied country, reported The Independent on Friday, August 31.
"The disease is spreading very fast," said Dr Juan Abdallah, a senior official in Kurdistan.
"It is the first outbreak of its kind here in the past few decades."
Ten people have already died and 5,000 more have contracted the disease in the northern towns of Sulaimaniyah and oil-rich Kirkuk.
More deaths are expected "over the next couple of days as victims are already in an advanced stage of illness," said Dr Dirar Iyad of Sulaimaniyah General Hospital.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has described the situation in northern Iraq as a "major epidemic".
"We have found two sources of the epidemic, one at Sulaimaniyah and the other at Kirkuk," a senior WHO official told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Cholera is a bacterial infection which causes severe diarrhea and vomiting.
Patients, particularly children and the elderly, are vulnerable to dangerous dehydration as a result.
Poor Sanitation
Officials point to the lack of clean water and poor sanitation as the main cause of the cholera outbreak.
"The bad sanitation in Iraq, especially in the outskirts of cities where IDPs [internally displaced person] are camped, has put people at serious risk," said Dr Abdullah.
"In Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk, at least 42 per cent of the population don't have access to clean water and proper sewage systems."
UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that four million Iraqis have been displaced within Iraq due to the spiraling violence.
Many live in huts made out of rubbish and have no fresh water supplies.
"My two children, husband and mother have been affected by cholera because we weren't able to get purified water and one of my children is very sick in hospital," said Um Abir, a 34-year-old mother.
"We have been displaced since January and we have to camp near a rubbish tip which, according to the doctor, might be the reason for all of the family being affected."
Electricity and clean water have become something of a luxury in Iraq since the 2003 US invasion.
Thousands of Iraqis are being forced to buy bottled water or drink contaminated water from purification plants without power.
Last month, international charity Oxfam said that 70% of Iraq's population did not have adequate water supplies and that only 20% had access to effective sanitation.
It also said that almost eight million Iraqis were in need of immediate emergency aid, with children the hardest hit.
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