BAGHDAD, Iraq – The number of recorded cases of cholera in Iraq has climbed to at least 533, the ministry of health and environment in Baghdad announced on Wednesday. It said in a statement that the victims are from across Iraq, but controversially added that no one had died of the epidemic. However, Baghdad Governor Ali al-Tamimi said less than a fortnight ago that at least five women had died of cholera in the Abu Ghraib district of Baghdad, and that many more victims were infected. He said some were in critical condition. UNICEF has provided the Abu Ghraib district with 50,000 boxes of bottled water, 1,000 20-liter water bottles and chlorine tablets to add to drinking water. Tamimi had said that cholera has become a problem in Abu Ghraib due to unclean drinking water. In 2007, dirty water let to an outbreak of cholera in Iraq, reportedly infecting about 7,000 people and killing 10. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), large-scale outbreaks of cholera were also reported in the Kurdistan region in 2007, 2008 and 2012.
