Syria: Idlib records first cholera death

Syria’s northwestern governorate Idlib has recorded the first death resulting from cholera in the country, according to the London-based news website Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

An official from the Idlib Health Directorate, Duraid Al-Rahmoun, told the news site that the death was recorded in the Jisr Al-Shughur area, west Idlib, and that it was of an elderly man.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by eating or drinking contaminated food or water, and the disease remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequality and lack of social development.

The Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN), an organisation that was established in 2013 by areas outside of the Syrian regime’s control, had announced the cholera death on Wednesday evening without providing details.

The network said in a statement that there are now 42 confirmed cholera cases in northwestern Syria along with 605 suspected cases.

There are also 137 confirmed cholera cases and 8,634 suspected cases in northeastern Syria, of which 406 cases were received by the medical authorities in the region on Wednesday, according to EWARN.

In total there have been 23 deaths from the disease.

READ: UN takes measures to fight cholera outbreak in Syria refugee camps