Syria’s Health Ministry on Saturday confirmed a total of 1,529 cholera cases and 49 deaths since the September declaration of the outbreak in the country, according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
The cases are mainly spread between Aleppo (933), Deir Ezzor (228), Hasaka (88), Lattakia (89), Raqqa (54), Hama (33) and Damascus (20) Most of the deaths have been recorded in Aleppo, in the north of the country, with 40 deaths, according to the balance sheet.
However, the number is feared to be much higher, due to the rapid spread of the disease and several areas of the country being out of control of the authorities.
In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) states in its latest situation report, dated November 14, that 35,569 suspected cases of cholera have been reported so far, with 1,491 confirmed cases and 92 deaths.
Cholera had been eliminated in Syria fourteen years ago, although the new outbreak derives from the contamination of the Euphrates river and the use of this water to irrigate fields and for human consumption.
The first case was reported in Jarabulus, Aleppo province, with 33 percent of suspected cases in IDP camps, according to Doctors of the World Turkey.
