By KAREEM CHEHAYEB, Associated Press
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s health minister said on Friday that authorities are inspecting suspected cases of cholera, lower than a day after the cash-strapped country confirmed its first case of the illness since 1993.
The news got here almost a month after an outbreak of the illness in neighboring war-torn Syria.
Firas Abiad, Lebanon’s caretaker health minister, said in a press conference that the primary case was a middle-aged Syrian refugee man living within the impoverished northern province of Akkar, and confirmed a second case in the world.
“There are several other suspected cases,” Abiad said. “Cholera is an illness that is well transmissible.”
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The developments happen as Lebanon’s economy continues to spiral, plunging three-quarters of its population into poverty. Rampant power cuts, water shortages, and skyrocketing inflation have deteriorated living conditions for thousands and thousands.
The Lebanese health minister added that the authorities have been working with the United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization for weeks to make sure the cash-strapped country can reply to a possible outbreak, and expand testing capacities at hospitals and labs.
“We’re ensuring that there may be protected water and a superb sewage system,” Abiad said.
In accordance with the WHO, a cholera infection is brought on by consuming food or water infected with the Vibrio cholerae bacteria, and while most cases are mild to moderate, not treating the illness could lead on to death.
About 1 million Syrian refugees who fled their country’s civil war reside in neighboring Lebanon. Most live in extreme poverty in tented settlements or in overcrowded apartments.
Poverty has also deepened for a lot of Lebanese, with many families often rationing water, unable to afford private water tanks for drinking and domestic use.
The health minister said Lebanon has secured the obligatory equipment and medicines to treat patients.
Richard Brennan, Regional Emergency Director of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region told The Associated Press Thursday that the organization has also been coordinating with other countries neighboring Syria to assist reply to a possible outbreak.
Nevertheless, he said vaccines are in brief supply resulting from global demand.
The U.N. and Syria’s Health Ministry have said the source of the outbreak is probably going linked to people drinking unsafe water from the Euphrates River and using contaminated water to irrigate crops, leading to food contamination.
Syria’s health services have suffered heavily from its years-long war, while much of the country is brief on supplies to sanitize water.
Syrian health officials as of Wednesday documented at the very least 594 cases of cholera and 39 deaths. Meanwhile, within the rebel-held northwest of the country, health authorities documented 605 suspected cases, dozens of confirmed cases, and at the very least one death.
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