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Ominous increase in cholera cases in Iraq's Basra

Last Updated: 2003-05-29 15:53:48 -0400 (Reuters Health)

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - The number of confirmed cases of cholera in the Iraqi city of Basra is already higher than in the whole of last year, and many more cases are probably undetected, the United Nations said on Wednesday.

World Health Organisation (WHO) spokeswoman Fadela Chaib told a news conference that 64 cases of the potentially fatal water-borne disease had been confirmed in Basra and the surrounding region, compared to 39 in the whole of 2002.

The actual number of cases this year is likely to be far higher, as the surveillance system that monitored the spread of the disease collapsed during the war to topple Saddam Hussein and the weeks of chaos and looting that followed.

"We can say that for each case we have discovered, there are at least 15 more that we don't know about," Chaib said.

So far this year no deaths from cholera have been reported in southern Iraq, but with the health care system still in crisis the outbreak could well cause loss of life unless it is brought under control.

Basra suffered several outbreaks of cholera in recent years, but previously had a good surveillance system to allow the spread of the disease to be monitored and brought under control. Now, that system has fallen apart.

The WHO says the outbreak of cholera could come from several sources. Illegal tapping has contaminated the water supply in the Basra area, and many people outside the city centre rely on untreated river water. The WHO estimates that only a third of the population can afford bottled drinking water.

Cholera can be fatal if patients do not get adequate treatment, as the disease can cause severe dehydration due to fluid loss.

Copyright 2002 Reuters.