Syria’s Raqqa records 41 cholera cases – AANES official
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) –A health official of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) said on Thursday they have recorded 41 cholera infections in Raqqa Governorate, northern Syria.
Khamlin Shaheen, co-chair of the AANES Health Committee of the Raqqa Civil Council, said that cholera cases in Raqqa have reached 41, 19 males and 22 females.
We have 35 cases under the age of 15, she said, adding that 29 of the total 41 have recovered and discharged from hospitals and medical centers in Raqqa.
To combat the outbreak, Shaheen said, the Health Committee has taken all possible necessary measures such as designating a medical center to deal with cholera cases and other infectious diseases, and analyzing the Euphrates River water to detect the source of the disease.
The Health Committee also distributes awareness-raising brochures to the residents, and put cholera awareness messages on billboards, she added.
However, the committee suffer from a lack of laboratories and equipment to detect cholera and test water, forcing us to use two private sector labs, the health official noted.
On Wednesday, co-chair of the AANES Health Board Jiwan Mustafa said in a press conference that there are 2.867 suspected cholera cases and 78 confirmed ones in the AANES-held areas.
Mustafa pointed out that the pandemic spread in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor where the first case of the pandemic was verified by germ culture recorded last month in addition to Raqqa, Tabqa and Hasakah.