The ministry confirmed, in a statement late Tuesday, that the number of confirmed cases of cholera reached 53, distributed over 5 governorates out of a total of 14 across the country, the largest number of which is in Aleppo (north).
It reported 7 deaths, 4 of them in Aleppo governorate as well.
On Saturday, the Kurdish Autonomous Administration announced that it had recorded 3 deaths and “many injuries” in its areas of control in Raqqa (north) and the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor (east).
It was not clear whether the death toll from the Ministry of Health included the deaths in the areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization warned against the spread of cholera in Syria. “The risk of cholera spreading to other governorates is very high,” she said in response to a question by AFP.
In 2008 and 2009, Syria recorded the last outbreaks of the disease in the governorates of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, according to the World Health Organization.
Cholera usually appears in residential areas that suffer from scarcity of drinking water or lack of sewage systems. It is often caused by eating contaminated food or water, and leads to diarrhea and vomiting.
After an 11-year conflict, Syria is witnessing an acute water crisis and drought, with the destruction of the water and sanitation infrastructure.
“Based on a rapid assessment by health authorities and partners, the source of infection is believed to be related to drinking unsafe water as well as using contaminated water to irrigate crops,” Omran Reda, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Syria, said in a statement Monday.
According to a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in April, the conflict has damaged nearly two-thirds of the number of water treatment plants, half of the pumping stations and a third of water tanks.
About half of the population depends on alternative sources that are often unsafe to meet or supplement their water needs, while at least 70 percent of wastewater is not treated, according to UNICEF.
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