Ten people killed more than seven thousand cases of acute diarrhoea have beenreported by doctors in Sulymania, Kirkuk and Erbil provinces. cholera organismisolated from 450 acute diarrhea cases. An international team from the World HealthOrganization headed by Dr Naeema Al- Gasseer; representative of WHO Iraq office,present in the field since the 2 weeks, visited several hospitals, water resources andlaboratoriestogetherwithlocalhealthexpertsandcarriedoutmanyemergencymeetingswiththetopauthoritiesinordertoassessthehealthsituationinthenorthern cities, mobilize resources and give instant technical support.
To date, The cases of acute watery diarrhea has spread to five out of eleven districtsof Sulaymaniyah province, exposing over 1,502,009 people at great public health risk,killing 9andinfecting3182sinceAugust23rd,whereasthehealthauthorityofKirkuk province experienced close to 3728 of similar cases with one death in it's fivedistricts since August 27th, And lately on September 6th , 6 cases experienced andconfirmed in Erbil.
WHO Technical officer, Dr. Omer mekki who keep track on epidemic statistics said,"The first index case of cholera confirmed by laboratory test was reported fromKirkuk province on 14 August 2007, a very weak surveillance system for diarrheadiseasesexistedinthesulaimaniyehprovincebeforetheoutbreakstartedon23August. Only recently with support from WHO Office of Iraq, the provincial healthauthority has started collecting quality surveillance data on cases reported to thehealth centers and hospitals."
"It is unclear at this stage what has been the source of infection for this current waveofcholerainthethreeprovinces"buttheprimaryinvestigationshowedsomeevidence that the source of infection in Sulaimaniyah may be polluted water thatresidents were forced to rely on because of a shortage of drinking water. In Kirkuk,cracked water pipes had allowed contamination by sewage, and because of the closegeographic proximity the ongoing cholera outbreak spread to Erbil" he added
We are still have a big worries, Dr Al- Gasseer alert, the continuous movement ofpeople and cargo; the bad sanitary, hygienic conditions and the high temperature inIraq, may increase the possibility of spreading the disease rapidly to other areas suchas Baghdad and the central provinces, Dr Al- Gasseer warnedAl- Gasseer confirmed "We are doing our best effort to lead the UN emergency aid innorthIraqandheavilyengageinassistingKurdistanAuthorityinfightingthecholera outbreak"
WHO-Iraqisactivelytakentheemergencymeasuresandinvolvedinthecontainmentofthiscurrentepidemicwaveofcholerabyprovidingtechnicalassistance to the health authorities for risk assessment, strengthening surveillancesystemthoughgivingtheessentialguidelinesonManagingCholeraOutBreakpreparedness and Response, improving coordination through multiscrotal (health,water,environment)operationalroomswhichhasbeensetupintheprovincialministry of health in order to better manage information flow between the affectedareas.Standardizingcasemanagement,mobilizingmedicalandotheressentialsupplies as well as in organizing social mobilization and health education campaignswhere more than 10000 Posters produced and distributed for the Case Managementand assessment all over IraqWHO- Iraq office has ordered for 10 emergency Diarrhoeal Disease Kits in order topre- position adequate quantities of essential drugs; medical and laboratory suppliesin all hospitals and health centers including all peripheral level hospitals so as toimprove access of cholera cases to standardized care in all health care settings of theaffected areas.
In addition, two truck load of IV Fluids, Antibiotics, IV Cannual and other essentialsupplies purchased by WHO- Iraq office would were delivered to Elbil .
WHO- Iraq has also conducted a series of training sessions on case management forhealthcare providers,laboratorydiagnosis,accesstosafewater,datacollection,surveillance system and othersBeside that Dr Al- Gasseer led a very strong advocacy with the highest level to seekstrong political commitment and support from the Government of Iraq to containthisepidemic.HermeetingswithHisExcellencies,thePresidentofIraq,thePresident of Kurdistan, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan, the Deputy Prime MinisterofIraq,theHealthMinisterofIraqandtheHealthMinisterofKurdistanhaveevolvedinmobilizingover 1millionUSDtosupporttheongoingemergencyresponse operations to the cholera outbreak in two provinces of Northern Iraq.
Dr Naeema Al- Gasseer stressed on the urgent need to take adequate steps to containthe current outbreak completely in Iraq " we are still on need to have differentmaterials to control this pandemic such as drugs and medical supplies, diagnosticandentericdiseasebacteriologykits,watertestingkits,awarenessandcommunications tools and equipment "