It had been difficult, but by January, doctors across north-west Syria believed they had almost beaten a major outbreak of cholera. An estimated 50,000 infections and almost 100 deaths had been recorded in Idlib and neighbouring Aleppo governorates between August and December. The outbreak had even spilled over into neighbouring Lebanon, the first case in the country since 1993, resulting in at least one death. But a planned vaccination campaign was meant to mark the end of the surge in cases.
Then two earthquakes struck the region in early February, compounding the worsening living conditions, destroying infrastructure and further displacing many people who had already fled to Idlib to escape fighting elsewhere. The earthquakes killed more than 4,000 people across north-west Syria, rupturing underground piping and damaging hospitals. Floods and windstorms destroyed thousands of homes in the weeks after the shocks.
