QAMISHLI: Three people have died of cholera in northern and eastern Syria, the region’s Kurdish administration said Saturday, appealing for international help to contain the outbreak.
Health authorities warned of “a large number of cholera cases in Raqqa province and the western countryside of Deir Ezzor province.”
Cholera is generally contracted from contaminated food or water and causes diarrhea and vomiting. It can spread in residential areas that lack proper sewage networks or mains drinking water.
The Kurdish administration called on international agencies, “especially the World Health Organization, to provide necessary support to limit the spread of cholera.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the disease had spread in western parts of Deir Ezzor after local authorities stopped distributing chlorine to water pumping stations.