Lebanon’s Ministry of Health has now recorded 513 cholera infections since the country’s first cholera outbreak in 30 years broke out last month, although the death toll has remained stable at 18 for the past 11 days and the number of people admitted to hospital continues to fall with each passing day, from 82 to 70 since last Thursday.
However, the 21 new cases recorded during the last 24 hours continue to highlight the seriousness of an outbreak that has led the Lebanese authorities to launch a three-week vaccination campaign on Tuesday, coinciding with the receipt of 600,000 doses of vaccines offered by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
In addition, the United Nations announced Thursday the release of $9.5 million (a similar figure in euros) to support the country’s efforts against cholera with an aid package that will go in part to the national operations of WHO, UNICEF, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other NGOs.
Authorities remind that the crisis is not yet over, especially in the most affected areas, in Akkar and the north, and to a lesser extent in Mount Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek-Hermel, especially as the Lebanese Ministry of Health is monitoring around 2,200 possible suspected cases still pending confirmation.
In fact, the director of the Douris primary care center, Darine Al Ahmar, reminded the U.S. public broadcaster NPR on Thursday that there is still a danger that the cholera bacteria could reach the aquifers of Lebanon’s most remote communities.
«We have to keep in mind that the water in the Bekaa Valley is connected, and if it spreads to a single aquifer the whole area will be at risk,» warned Al Ahmar, who is also a member of the humanitarian NGO Amel Association.
WHO, it should be recalled, has rated the overall risk of a cholera outbreak in Lebanon as very high at the national level and high at the regional level.
Moreover, the rapid escalation of the outbreak in Lebanon may have particularly serious consequences given the fragile socio-economic situation in the country, the lack of humanitarian funds and the limited resources of public institutions, according to the NGO Action Against Hunger.
