The central Iraqi province of Babel went on alert on Monday after four people were killed by cholera and 200 others were suspected of suffering from the disease, local officials told AFP.
"The laboratory reports from Babel health department indicate there are 200 cases of suspected cholera, vomiting and diarrhoea in the province," the provincial council said.
It said the council head, Mohammed al-Masoodi, has ordered the water, electricity and health departments to go on alert in an effort to stop the spread of the disease.
Local medics said four people have died from the disease, adding that most of the suspected cases were from Al-Hashimiyah area of northern Hilla, the provincial capital.
Six cases of cholera have also been detected and 64 more suspected cases been reported in the southern province of Maysan, a member of parliament told AFP on Monday.
Leqaa al-Yasin, a member of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc who is a doctor by training, said the lack of clean drinking water and soaring temperatures had led to the cholera outbreak.
A government statement said a delegation has been sent to Maysan to assess the situation.
