A man receives treatment for cholera in Lebanon's northern Akkar governorate in October 2022. (Credit: João Sousa/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Lebanon on Tuesday recorded one new cholera case and no new deaths, bringing the total number of confirmed cases and deaths to 586 and 20, respectively, since the beginning of the present outbreak, the Health Ministry said in its daily report.
The cholera outbreak — the country's first since 1993 — began on Oct. 5 when the first case was identified in northern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, 23,657 people were vaccinated for cholera on Tuesday, bringing to 312,236 the number of vaccinations against the disease administered since the beginning of a three-week campaign that began on Nov. 12 .
On Friday, caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad said that the number of people vaccinated thus so far "is greater than the number that was supposed to be reached in this phase." The vaccination campaign aims to reach around 600,000 people in total.
Cholera is usually caused by ingesting food or water contaminated with the Vibrio cholerae bacteria, often present in feces. Infected people may suffer acute diarrhea, but the illness can also be asymptomatic.