Syria’s ANNES records 2.776 cholera suspected cases in Deir ez-Zor
DEIR EZ-ZOR, Syria (North Press) – An official in Health Committee of Deir ez-Zor Civil Council said, on Monday, rate of cholera cases has increased in Deir ez-Zor countryside, east Syria, significantly in the western countryside.
Muhammad al-Salem, co-chair of the Health Committee in the Deir ez-Zor Civil Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said that there are 2.776 suspected cases of cholera, while deaths number has reached 11 till now.
The AANES said that the cholera has mainly spread in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor due to contaminated drinking water.
Although the abovementioned suspected cases suffer from mild symptoms, the number is large and they work on preparing additional centers to treat the cases, al-Salem added.
On September 20, Tareq al-Ibrahim, Director of al-Kasra Hospital, west of Deir ez-Zor, said that they had formed an emergency cell from hospital nurses and doctors to deal with the increasing infections of cholera.
Most of the cases were recorded in al-Kasra and al-Zegheir regions, while fewer cases were recorded in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, al-Salem added.
“Lack of humanitarian aid and capabilities such as medicines and medical supplies, impede rapid treatment,” al-Salem said.
On September 13, Maryam al-Awad, co-chair of the Health Committee in the Deir ez-Zor Civil Council told North Press, “Cholera has immensely spread in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor as a result of water contamination.”
She called on world organizations and NGOs running health sector to provide the Health Committee with medicines especially chlorine to curb the pandemic.
On September 20, World Health Organization (WHO) sent a plane carrying 30 tons of medical supplies, including cholera kits, oral rehydration solutions, and rapid diagnostic tests to Damascus to contain the cholera outbreak in Syria.