An outbreak of cholera in two northern Iraqi provinces has claimed the lives of eight people and left dozens more infected with the disease, Kurdistan's regional Health Minister Zeryan Othman said Wednesday. Othman made his comments during a visit to Azadi hospital in this northern oil-rich city along with a delegation from the central Health Ministry in Baghdad. Earlier this week, Othman spoke about dozens of cases in the city of Sulaimaniyah. "There are 47 cholera cases in Kirkuk and 35 in Sulaimaniyah. This is in addition to 2,250 people suffering from diarrhea in Sulaimaniyah and 2,000 similar cases in Kirkuk," Othman told reporters during a news conference held in this ethnically-mixed city. "Seven people died in Sulaimaniyah and one in Kirkuk," the minister added.