ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - There have been 39 confirmed cases of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in Iraq so far this year, the spokesperson for Iraq’s health ministry announced on Friday. Five people have died of the illness. 

Saif al-Badr told Iraqi state media that out of the 39 cases, 12 were recorded in Dhi Qar province. No cases were found in the Kurdistan Region. 

“The Ministry of Health provided all diagnostic supplies and halls to isolate suspected cases,” he said