UNHCR: Syrian refugees in Lebanon are typhoid-free

Water from the Euphrates probably contains sewage, officials suggest Beirut – Georges Chahine Dana Sleiman, United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman in Lebanon, has announced no cases of typhoid fever have been recorded amongst Lebanon’s displaced Syrian population. The news comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) yesterday announced the spread of typhoid in rebel-controlled areas of Syria.
Officials claimed a lack of safe drinking water in Deir ez-Zor had forced many to drink contaminated water from the Euphrates River.
Syrian WHO representative Elizabeth Hoff told reporters: "There is not enough fuel or electricity to run pumps so people drink water from the Euphrates which is contaminated, probably with sewage."
Around 2,500 people have reportedly been infected with the life-threatening disease, which is contracted through poor hygiene and sanitation conditions.
Health officials fear refugees coming from rebel-controlled parts of Syria could precipitate wider medical problems for some of the 283,000 registered refugees now living in Lebanon.
However Sleiman confirmed refugees in Lebanon were clear of infectious diseases.
The UNHCR was working closely with UNICEF and Lebanon’s Health Ministry to ensure refugees had access to all necessary inoculations and vaccinations, she added.
Two Syrian refugees had contracted tuberculosis and were being treated in Lebanese health facilities, the spokeswoman told Anadolu news agency.
Hepatitis A, another water-borne disease responsible for epidemics, had spread in areas of Aleppo and Idlib, as well as in crowded refugee shelters in the capital, Damascus.