Cholera outbreak in northern Iraq

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported at the same time, “Local authorities report that over 2,000 people have been affected so far by the outbreak, with five deaths reported and 500 patients admitted to hospital with severe diarrhoea within the last two days alone.”

Physician Dr. Burham Omar, who visited the area with representatives from Iraq’s central health ministry, told Al Jazeera that 2,250 people had been diagnosed in Sulaimaniyah and 2,000 in Kirkuk. A bacterial infection, cholera causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting and dangerous dehydration. Children and the elderly are particularly at risk.

No updated figures are available, but Dr. Dirar Iyad of Sulaimaniyah General Hospital said last weekend that he expects more deaths “over the next couple of days as victims are already in an advanced stage of illness.”

The outbreak is particularly significant, given that northern Iraq is considered to be more stable than the rest of the country and has witnessed less fighting. But the social situation there is no less dire. More than half the population in Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk does not have access to clean water. UNICEF reports that mains water is only available in Sulaimaniyah for two hours a day.