The Jordanian authorities have heard reports of at least 20 Iraqis, including seven children, dying of cholera in the last three days with hundreds of others infected, al-Sumaria reported Thursday.

It was not clear if the deaths occurred in Iraq or in Jordan, where tens of thousands of Iraqis are living in refugee camps. The reports of cholera came from Mohammed al-Jaafari, Babel's member of a provincial council, said al-Sumaria.

Jordanian authorities have stepped up medical examinations of people crossing from Iraq into Jordan and are taking extra precautions to insure clean water control, al-Sumaria reported.