WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said in a statement that as of Sept. 10, 6,000 have been reported with symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting in the province of Sulaimaniyah, another 7,000 in Tamim province, and 3,000 in Irbil province.
With 10 deaths reported, 844 cases of the disease have been confirmed so far.
"The good news was that, although the disease has spread, the number of deaths has remained the same," WHO spokesperson Fadela Chaib told a news briefing in Geneva.
Earlier in the week, regional authorities reported 11,000 people with symptoms, 700 confirmed cases and 10 deaths. The epidemic puts over 2.8 million people at risk from exposure to the infectious and other fatal disease.
Though the authorities are still investigating the cause of the outbreak of this disease but they suspect that drinking of polluted water in Sulemaniya may have been to blame.
In Kirkuk, cracked water pipes allowed contamination by sewage, and because of the close geographic proximity the outbreak spread to Erbil, WHO said.
Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration. It broke out in mid-August and has so far been limited to northern Iraq.
Warning that cholera could spread further unless people have access to clean water and safe food, and better sanitation, WHO said it had chlorinated the drinking water in the area last week to prevent spread of the disease.
