Cholera deaths rise to 18 in Lebanon

By Wassim Seif El Din

BEIRUT (AA) - The Lebanese Health Ministry said Thursday that the death toll from a cholera outbreak rose to 18 after the country registered a new fatality.

A statement from the agency said six additional infections brought the number of those infected to 406.

It warned that cholera has resulted from contaminated water and food where the infection is transmitted via contaminated hands.

The country announced its first cholera infection Oct. 6 in Akkar province in northern Lebanon.

Lebanon hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees, about 900,000 of whom are registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Most are struggling in dire living conditions that have been exacerbated by the Lebanese and global economic crises.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar