A lab technician works on samples to test for cholera, at a hospital in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on Sept. 11, 2022 (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Lebanon on Friday recorded its second Cholera case after the first case was confirmed on Thursday, a Health Ministry spokesperson told L'Orient Today.
Here's what we know:
• These two cases, which are the first since 1993, are likely the result of a serious outbreak in neighboring Syria crossing the porous border between the countries, caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad said in an interview on Thursday.
• The first case was of a Syrian national in Akkar who is receiving treatment and is in stable condition according to Abiad. The second case is also in Akkar, Health Ministry told L'Orient Today.
• As the Lebanese healthcare system has been hit hard by a three-year financial crisis and the August 2020 Beirut port blast that destroyed critical medical infrastructure in the capital, and despite humanitarian aid from donor countries, Abiad said the sector would struggle to cope with a large-scale outbreak.