A cholera outbreak in Syria could create an “international threat”a medical non-government organisation (NGO) has warned.
A breakout of the water-borne intestinal disease has occurred in Syria, with one child already dead, and it could spread quickly due to the country’s problematic medical infrastructure and lack of aid, Dr Ahmad Tarakji, president of the Syrian American Medical Society (Sams) told The Independent.
He said: “It spreads so easily. People are being displaced inside and outside, people are going to Europe.”
Last Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that, in Iraq, 1,811 laboratory confirmed cases have been reported in 15 of the country’s 18 governorates.
The organisation expressed its fear that cholera could spread to neighbouring countries as a consequence of increased population movement due to the religious mass gathering Ashura, which took place on 23 October, and will also be commemorated on 2 December.
The international body predicted that approximately US$ 2.8 million is needed to stop the cholera outbreak in Iraq.
13
