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After having disappeared from the country for more than 30 years, cholera is reappearing in Lebanon. Many families are forced to drink water that contaminates them, because they cannot buy it in bottles.
Lebanon is hit by a new scourge, which pollutes its waters and bruises the bodies. In a hospital in the country, many patients are affected by cholera. “The disease came from Syria. Mixing wastewater with mains water […] has polluted the area, and what [devait] to arrive has arrived, the crisis has struck“, explains Nahed Saadeddine, director of the field hospital. Some families have been particularly affected by the disease. The children are waiting to be vaccinated. All drank the same contaminated water because they had no other choice.
“Our water comes from the same place as everyone else. We can’t afford bottled water. We already have to pay for water for the house and we also have to buy drinking water? We just can’t afford it“, testifies this mother. Cholera had disappeared for more than 30 years. The Lebanese no longer knew about this disease, explains Nahed Saadeddine. The World Health Organization has identified more than 1,400 suspected cases and more than one dozens of deaths from this disease in Lebanon since October 5.