​Syria cholera outbreak sparks fears of ?international threat?

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Syria cholera outbreak sparks fears of ?international threat?

Doctor says nation's crippled medical infrastructure, and the lack of access available to aid agencies, means disease could spread quickly, both inside the country and across borders

Olivia Alabaster Beirut 1 hour ago

Cholera has broken out in Syria, with one child having already died after contracting the disease ? and the outbreak could constitute an ?international threat?.

The break-out, which follows one in Iraq, could spread rapidly, according to Dr Ahmad Tarakji, president of the Syrian American Medical Society (Sams), the largest medical NGO still working in Syria.

Speaking to The Independent, Dr Tarakji said that Syria?s already crippled medical infrastructure, and the lack of access available to aid agencies, meant the disease could spread quickly, both inside the country and across borders.

?It spreads so easily. People are being displaced inside and outside, people are going to Europe,? he said.

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http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...s-fears-of-international-threat-a6708436.html

 

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Cholera spreading in Iraq, suspected case reported in Syria ? UN health agency

27 October 2015 ?
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Regarding Syria, the WHO spokesperson said his agency had received reports of a suspected cholera case in rural Aleppo, northern Syria, involving a 5-year-old boy, who had died before an appropriate stool sample could be taken for confirmative testing.

Aleppo is where pro-Government forces and non-State armed opposition groups have continued mutual shelling inside civilian-populated areas.

WHO is printing 50,000 information brochures for Syria, and the country?s health sector has been put on alert, the spokesperson said. Health education is ongoing and the water network in the area is said to be chlorinated, which will hinder the spread of the cholera.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The short incubation period of 2 hours to 5 days, is one factor that triggers the potentially explosive pattern of outbreaks, according to the health agency.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52388#.Vi_qtberQ2w