Baghdad — A suspected cholera outbreak has killed four people west of Baghdad, where vulnerable displaced populations have been affected by the lack of clean water, health officials said Saturday.



The health ministry strongly suspects the deaths, which occurred in the Abu Ghraib area near Baghdad, were the result of a cholera outbreak first reported a week earlier.



“Last week, we announced that there 12 cases of cholera in Abu Ghraib and Najaf,” Health Ministry spokesman Rifaq Al-Araji said. “Since then, other cases have appeared in Abu Ghraib, and the reason is water that is not suitable for drinking,” he said.



“Some people are drinking directly from the (Euphrates) river and the wells. The river water is polluted because the level is too low,” Araji explained.



“We now have four dead in Abu Ghraib in suspected cholera cases,” he said, adding that official laboratory results would be known soon. — AFP