BEIRUT: The World Health Organization warned Tuesday of a “very high” risk of cholera spreading across Syria after the country recorded its first cases since 2009.
“The risk of cholera spreading to other governorates is very high,” the WHO said, after cases were recorded in at least five of the country’s 14 provinces.
“The source of infection could be linked to people drinking water from untreated sources,” or “food contamination due to irrigating plants with contaminated water,” the WHO said in a statement.
On Monday, the Syrian health ministry reported two cholera deaths in government-held areas.
On Saturday, Kurdish authorities reported three deaths in areas of northern and eastern Syria under their control.
The WHO said the cases were the first reported in Syria since 2009, when 342 cases were confirmed in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and the northern province of Raqqa.
The disease is generally contracted from contaminated food or water, and causes diarrhea and vomiting.
It can spread in residential areas that lack proper sewerage networks or mains drinking water.
A decade of civil war has damaged two thirds of Syria’s water treatment plants, half of its pumping stations and one third of its water towers, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
Nearly half the population relies on alternative and often unsafe sources of water while at least 70 percent of sewage goes untreated, it added.
The UN issued an urgent appeal to donor countries on Monday for additional funding to battle the outbreak.
“The outbreak presents a serious threat to people in Syria and the region,” the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria, Imran Riza said.
“Swift and urgent action is needed to prevent further illness and death.”
The UN said the source of the outbreak “is believed to be linked to people drinking unsafe water from the Euphrates River and using contaminated water to irrigate crops, resulting in food contamination.”
An outbreak of cholera hit neighboring Iraq this summer for the first time since 2015.
Worldwide, the disease affects between 1.3 million and four million people each year, killing between 21,000 and 143,000 people.
Syria cholera outbreak at risk of spreading: WHO
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Syria cholera outbreak at risk of spreading: WHO
- A smaller number of suspected cases have been recorded in Raqqa, Al-Hasaka, Hama and Lattakia
Sudan paramilitary advances near Ethiopia border
- Sudan’s Kordofan region, where the SPLM-N has its other foothold in the Nuba Mountains, is currently the war’s fiercest battleground
KHARTOUM: Sudanese paramilitary forces have advanced on army positions near the southeastern border with Ethiopia, according to the group and an eyewitness who spoke to AFP Wednesday.
Control over Sudan’s southeastern Blue Nile State, bordering both Ethiopia and South Sudan, is split between the army and a faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, allies of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
In a statement released Tuesday, the SPLM-N, led by Abdelaziz Al-Hilu, said they had “liberated the strategic city of Deim Mansour and areas of Bashir Nuqu and Khor Al-Budi.”
Since April 2023, the Sudanese army has been at war with the RSF. In February of last year, the RSF announced a surprise alliance with the SPLM-N, securing experienced fighters, land and border access.
Deim Mansour lies between the SPLM-N stronghold Yabus, birthplace of their deputy commander Joseph Tuka, and the army-held town of Kurmuk, which hosts a large army contingent.
Babiker Khaled, who fled to Kurmuk, told AFP that SPLM-N fighters began amassing in the forests around Deim Mansour on Sunday.
“The shelling began on Monday, they entered the city on Tuesday,” he said, adding that “some people fled into Ethiopia, others arrived in Kurmuk.”
From its foothold in the southern Blue Nile, a thin strip of land jutting south between Ethiopia and South Sudan, the SPLM-N maintains reported supply lines from both countries, building on decades-old links.
Close to three years of war in Sudan have left tens of thousands dead and around 11 million displaced, creating the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
It has also torn the country apart, with the army holding the center, north and east of Sudan while the RSF and its allies dominate the west and parts of the south.
Sudan’s Kordofan region, where the SPLM-N has its other foothold in the Nuba Mountains, is currently the war’s fiercest battleground.
On Tuesday, the army broke a paramilitary siege on South Kordofan state capital Kadugli, days after breaking another on the nearby city of Dilling.
