Caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad during a tour in the Bekaa, October 23, 2022. (Photo sent by Sarah Abdallah)
BEIRUT — Lebanon recorded three new deaths due to cholera, bringing the total to 10 casualties, while 12 new cases of contamination were confirmed in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 239 since the beginning of the epidemic, the Ministry of Health announced Saturday night.
On Sunday, traces of cholera were detected in water samples from three public springs in the Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood in Tripoli, North Lebanon, the ministry said. Although the Ministry of Health had reported these were public water sources, the North Lebanon Water Establishment (NLWE) has denied these are public water sources and has said the samples were taken from a private well equipped by a private company and not monitored by the government.
Caretaker Health Minister Firas Abiad, who toured the Bekaa to assess the situation in the region, said that "the number of cholera cases in Arsal and the Bekaa remains low, and the ongoing efforts in cooperation with our allies are aimed at quickly resolving this issue so that the sick do not need to be hospitalized.
"Unfortunately, refugees are forced to use unsafe water," he said while 1.5 million Syrian refugees are estimated to be in Lebanon, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Although most cases have been recorded "among refugees," there has been "an increase in cases among Lebanese," he warned.
The World Health Organization said on Friday that tests of wastewater in Ain al-Mreisseh in Beirut, the Ghadir station and Bourj Hammoud in Mount Lebanon have confirmed the presence of traces of cholera.
For the WHO, this indicates that this acute diarrheal infection, caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, has spread to two other regions of the country located far from the first confirmed cases in Akkar, in North Lebanon.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article stated the Ministry of Health had detected cholera in three public water sources. The North Lebanon Water Establishment has denied these are public, stating they are private water wells.