The number of suspected cholera cases in northern Iraq has almost doubled since late August, with 16,000 people now showing symptoms, the World Health Organization said Friday.

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

Pfizer, the largest manufacturer of drugs in the United States, on Thursday has come up in its defence against the alleged lawsuit filed by the Nigerian authorities in drug abuse case.

The U.S. drug major now says that it had received a written approval from Nigerian authorities before administering Trovan- a drug that claimed the lives of 11 children in the northern Kano state in 1996

Researchers from Japan have achieved a breakthrough in the field of vaccines by developing a type of rice that can carry a vaccine for cholera. The new discovery is seen as a revolutionary way to ease delivery of vaccines in developing countries, where storage is difficult due to lack of refrigeration.

The new rice vaccine, which is tested only in mice, causes immune reactions both systemwide in the body and in mucosal tissues such as in the mouth, nose and genital tract. Standard vaccines delivered by needle do not cause immune responses in the mucosal areas

A cholera outbreak in Nigeria has killed 68 people.

Medical experts say contaminated water from streams and ponds in Borno made an estimated 1,500 people sick, and mainly women and children make up those who were killed

A cholera outbreak in Angola has killed over 2,000 people, and infected 48,000, since it began in February.

Now, officials in Angola warn that if the water and sanitation systems in the African nation are not improved, the deaths will continue