Children's polio may spread out of Iraq

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned against the wide spread of children polio in Iraq and also of fears that this disease will spread in the region as a whole.

WHO stressed that 16 polio cases were reported in Iraq since last May and that another 19 polio cases are suspected at the meantime.

The organization added that nine of the 16 confirmed cases were found among children of Bedouin families, while most of the polio cases reported since August where found among children of settled families. It added that 88% of the total number of the polio cases are among children under two years old.

The WHO on the other hand expressed its concern over the announcement of the Iraqi Health Ministry that some 1,985 cholera cases were reported, 30 of which led to deaths in the central and southern parts of the country between the two past months of April and August.