Cholera crosses Iraq's border into Iran

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Thursday that cholera had spread from Iraq to Iran, highlighting the need for neighboring countries to boost their defenses against the deadly disease, Reuters reported.

Cholera, which continues to spread within Iraq, can be carried to other countries by refugees and through trade. “Borders are permeable, closing them won’t stop the germ,” Claire-Lise Chaignat, WHO global cholera coordinator, said.

At least 15 people have died from the disease in Iraq, and there have been at least 3,315 cases since mid-August. There have been up to 10 cases reported in Iran – near the Iraqi border. However, it is unclear if these were Iraqi refugees or Iranian citizens, Chaignat said. She said that the situation seems to be contained now, however, if it is not controlled, the disease could threaten refugee camps in the area.

“We are particularly concerned about countries with Iraqi refugees where they don’t always have access to good water and sanitation and hygienic conditions,” Chaignat said. “It is important to catch the first cases and treat them correctly.” She encourages neighboring countries to stock up on intravenous fluids and oral rehydration salts to combat dehydration in victims.

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Iraq: Increasing number of people becoming ill from cholera

Every day the number of people falling ill from cholera in Iraq is increasing. The outbreak started in late August and since then 25 northern and 4 southern districts have been affected, along with the central Iraq, according to the health website Spiritindia.com.

“It is estimated that more than 30,000 people have fallen ill with acute watery diarrhoea, among with 2,116 were identified as positive for Vibrio cholerae"

The worst outbreak has been in the northern provinces of the country, and the disease was first detected in Kirkuk, where, according to the article “68% of laboratory-confirmed cholera cases have so far been reported.” From there it has spread to both Sulaymaniah and Erbil provinces and additional cases have also been identified around the country.

The World Health Organization is supporting both the local and national health authorities in the ongoing response operation. According to the article: “Ten interagency diarrhoeal disease kits, each sufficient to treat 400 moderate and 100 severe cases, arrived in Erbil International airport on 16 September.”

It added: “Rapid diagnostic tests are being pre-positioned in remote health care facilities. In addition, 10% of all positive stool samples are being sent to NAMRU 3 reference laboratory (US Navy Advanced Research Unit) in Cairo for further confirmation and phenotypic characterization.”

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