BAGHDAD: The Iraqi Health Ministry has reported 13 cases of cholera, the majority of which have occurred in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. On Sunday, 13 cases of cholera were reported.

According to a Ministry statement, ten of the 13 cases were found in the Kurdish province of Sulaymaniyah, one in neighbouring Kirkuk province, and two in the southern province of al-Muthanna.

The Ministry urged citizens to practise good hygiene and to make sure that "water used for drinking and cooking is sterile." Earlier on Sunday, Sabah Hawrami, Head of the Health Department in Sulaymaniyah province, told a press conference that the 10 confirmed cases in the province are from samples sent to the central laboratory in Baghdad on June 16 for verification, according to reports.

Over the last week, nearly 4,000 people in Sulaymaniyah were admitted to hospitals for uncontrolled diarrhoea and vomiting, according to Hawrami.

Cholera is a highly contagious disease with symptoms that include a sudden onset of watery diarrhoea and dehydration, which can lead to death. Consuming food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholera causes the disease.

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