A cholera outbreak in Iraq has spread to Kuwait and Bahrain, and risks turning into a regionwide epidemic as millions of pilgrims prepare to visit the country, UNICEF’s Iraq director said.

Hawkins said UNICEF was working with preachers in the Shiite shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala to convey information about how to guard against cholera, which is endemic in Iraq and the wider region.

The war against ISIS militants who control large swaths of territory in northern and western Iraq has also contributed to the outbreak.

One in five of the confirmed cases in Iraq is among children, and in large parts of the country the start of the school year was delayed by a month as a precaution, UNICEF said in a statement.

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