MADRID, Dec. 11 (.) –
The Syrian authorities have raised to more than 1,600 the number of cholera cases detected since the declaration of an outbreak in September, with its epicenter in the province of Aleppo (north), although it is feared that the number could be much higher.
The Syrian Ministry of Health has indicated that so far 1,609 cases have been confirmed, with 49 deaths. A total of 987 cases have been detected in Aleppo, the most affected province, as reported by the Syrian state news agency, SANA.
Behind them are Deir Ezzor, with 233; Latakia, with 97; Hasaka, with 90; Raqqa, with 54, Hama, with 38; Homs, with 28; Sueida, with 26; Damascus, with 20; Damascus countryside, with 17, Tartus, with ten; Daraa, with five; and Quneitra, with four.
In the case of the deceased, a total of 40 have been registered in Aleppo, while Hasaka has confirmed four deaths, for the two in Deir Ezzor and one in Homs, Hama and Damascus.
Syrian authorities launched a vaccination campaign last week after receiving two million doses of the vaccine. The campaign has among its main objectives vulnerable populations in the provinces most affected by the outbreak: Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Hasaka and Raqqa.
The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Syria, Iman Shankiti, said before the start of the campaign that “cholera is a public health threat that affects the health of populations and entails substantial costs to systems of public health”.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the ‘bacillus vibrio cholerae’, according to the WHO on its website, where it stresses that “cholera continues to be a global threat to public health and a indicator of inequality and lack of social development”.
