In Syria, mounting cholera cases pose threat across frontlines

A boy jumps over sewage at a camp for internally displaced Syrians, in northern rebel-held Idlib, Syria September 25, 2022. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

A cholera outbreak that has claimed 29 lives in Syria is posing a danger across the frontlines of the country's 11-year-long war, stirring fears in crowded camps for the displaced who lack running water or sewage systems.

First linked to contaminated water near the Euphrates river, the outbreak has now spread across the fractured nation, with cases reported in government- and rebel-controlled regions. In all, at least 2,000 cases have been reported so far.