BAGHDAD: A cholera outbreak in Iraq claimed its first victim Tuesday, with 17 new cases recorded in the country within 24 hours, a health ministry spokesperson said.
The death was recorded in the northern province of Kirkuk, the ministry’s Seif Al-Badr was quoted as saying by state media.
“Over the past 24 hours, 17 new cases were detected, bringing the total to 76 cases registered in Iraq since the start of the year,” he said.
The outbreak was first officially reported earlier this month, with Kirkuk accounting for one of the 13 cases confirmed at that time.
The other infections were mostly concentrated in neighboring Sulaimaniyah province, in the autonomous Kurdistan region.
The country’s last broad cholera outbreak dates back to 2015, Badr had said previously, with the central provinces of Baghdad and Babil to its south the worst affected.
Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease that is treatable with antibiotics and hydration but can kill within hours without medical attention.
It is caused by a germ that is typically transmitted by poor sanitation. People become infected when they swallow food or water carrying the bug.
According to the World Health Organization, researchers estimate that annually there are between 1.3 million and four million cases of cholera worldwide, leading to between 21,000 and 143,000 deaths.
Iraq announces first cholera death since new outbreak
https://arab.news/4pxu4
Iraq announces first cholera death since new outbreak
- The other infections were mostly concentrated in neighboring Sulaimaniyah province, in the autonomous Kurdistan region
Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say, the latest deaths as truce stalls
Israeli strike kills 2 Palestinians in Gaza, health officials say, the latest deaths as truce stalls
- Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect on Oct. 10
- The military said the person they killed was a militant and had posed a threat to troops
GAZA CITY: An Israeli strike on Thursday killed at least two Palestinians and wounded five others east of Gaza City, according to Fadel Naeem, director of Al-Ahli Hospital, where the casualties arrived.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Deadly Israeli strikes have repeatedly disrupted the truce since it took effect on Oct. 10. The escalating Palestinian toll has prompted many in Gaza to say it feels like the war has continued unabated.
Separately, Israel’s military said Thursday that soldiers in southern Gaza had killed a Palestinian who had crossed the line dividing the Israeli-held area of the strip from the area most Palestinians are crammed into. Such shootings have become a common occurrence in the territory since the ceasefire took hold.
The military said the person they killed was a militant and had posed a threat to troops. It maintains that claim when describing most cases of Palestinians shot down in the vicinity of the line, even though some civilians have been killed, including young children, said a military official who spoke to AP on the condition of anonymity in line with military rules.
