Tragic news has emerged from northwestern Syria, where two people have died and 568 non-fatal cases of cholera have been reported in the wake of devastating earthquakes. The Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, reported the deaths in a tweet on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cholera deaths in the northwest since the outbreak began last year to 22.
The earthquakes have exacerbated the already dire living conditions in refugee camps in the area, which lacked sanitation and access to clean water even before the disaster. Activist Nour Qormoosh told Al Jazeera that 63% of camps lacked proper sewerage and 43% lacked access to clean water. Hospitals and health workers are struggling to treat people injured in the February 6 earthquakes, but they are hampered by a lack of funds and a slow response from the UN.
The quakes have left thousands homeless, with 20,000 buildings destroyed or left inhabitable, according to figures compiled by local officials. Qormoosh said that those living in shelters provided by NGOs are severely crowded, creating an environment that is ripe for the spread of diseases like cholera. A report by the United Nations Security Council last week noted that the ongoing outbreak had been worsened by “severe shortages” of clean water across the country, as well as an unusually dry and hot wet season.
The cholera outbreak was first linked in September to contaminated water near the Euphrates River. Since then, it has spread across various areas of control in the nation fractured by more than a decade of war. The death toll is expected to rise as conditions remain dire and relief efforts are inadequate.