BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's Health Ministry said that up to 171 cholera cases have been reported in Iraq after detecting63 new cases, an official newspaper said on Saturday.

    "The central laboratories of the ministry confirmed up to 171 cholera cases, including 104 in Babel province, 41 in Baghdad and three new cases in Anbar province, others are in central and southern provinces" the state-run al-Sabah newspaper quoted ministry spokesman Ehasn Jaafar as saying.

    Jaafar said that 63 new cases have been detected suffer from acute watery diarrhea in the past two days across the country, adding that no deaths have been registered among the new cases.

    The three new cases in western Anbar province raising fears of a new spread of the disease across the country.

    On Sept. 11, the Iraqi Health Minister Salih al-Hasnawi confirmed that cholera has killed five people in Baghdad and southern areas in an outbreak partly caused by the deterioration of water facilities during years of conflict.

    Last year, cholera epidemic spread in nine Iraqi provinces out of 18 across the country. According to World Health Organization (WHO), more than 30,000 people have fallen ill with the disease, among which 3,315 were identified as positive for vibrio cholera, the bacterium causing the disease.

    In a statement on its website, the WHO said that a total of 14 people are known to have died of the disease in the country last year.

    Cholera, one of the most deadly diseases, is a highly contagious water-borne disease which causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and even death if not treated promptly.