At least one medical diagnostic laboratory in every city has been equipped with the necessary facilities for diagnosis of cholera, said Fariba Hadi, infectious diseases expert at Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. “All samples collected from suspected cholera cases in health centers and hospitals should be sent to the specific laboratories for testing,” Salamatnews website quoted her as saying. Iran is at risk of cholera outbreak due to its geographical proximity to two main sources of the epidemic, Pakistan to the east and Iraq in the west. Last year’s epidemic in Iraq was transmitted to Khuzestan, but was controlled by the provincial health centers. Cholera is a bacterial disease causing severe diarrhea and dehydration, usually spread through contaminated water.
