8 cholera cases confirmed in Sulaimani: Deputy minister

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Eight cases of cholera were recorded in Sulaimani on Saturday after several suspected cases were reported in recent days, the deputy health minister announced. 

A number of people were hospitalized in Sulaimani on Thursday and local health authorities identified them as suspected cholera cases. 

“Eight people have tested positive to cholera,” Rahel Faraidun, Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) deputy health minister, told Rudaw on Saturday. 

Sabah Hawrami, head of Sulaimani health directorate, warned on Thursday that people should refrain from drinking water deemed unsafe by the mayor’s office, adding that most of the vegetables sold in the markets of the city are not healthy because they have been watered by wastewater. 

Sulaimani authorities confirmed ten cases of cholera in August 2023. 

Cholera is an acute diarrheal infection caused by eating or drinking food or water that is contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera, according to WHO. The Kurdistan Region recorded large-scale cholera outbreaks in 2007, 2008, and 2012.