Cholera outbreak spreads across African Nations
Kampala, Jan 14 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) At least one person has been reported dead while 60 others are hospitalised following an outbreak of cholera in the northern Uganda district of Lamwo, health officials said.
Denis Ocula, the district health officer for Lamwo, said in a written statement obtained by Xinhua that the initial cases were reported early last week in the sub-county of Agoro.
“All the cases presented with vomiting, acute watery diarrhea, dehydration and general body weaknesses with no fever,” Ocula noted.
He said stool samples were collected from the suspected cases and seven turned positive on January 10, Xinhua news agency reported.
The health official said the outbreak of the disease could have resulted from poor sanitation and hygiene as people were drawing water from unprotected water sources.
According to the official, a task force had been put in place to carry out community sensitization about the use of handwashing facilities, safe water usage and proper fecal disposal. “We have also carried out orientation of more health workers from private and public facilities on cholera case identification, case management and reporting,” Ocula said.
He warned that the affected sub-country remains a high-risk area as it was located at the border with South Sudan and people continued crossing into the country in big numbers.
Cholera is a serious acute infectious disease characterised by watery diarrhea and vomiting, according to the World Health Organization.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has recorded 28 cholera cases and two deaths in the latest cholera outbreak that began in November last year, health authorities said Monday.
In an update on the cholera cases, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Care said the current outbreak, which began in the Kariba district of Mashonaland West Province, has since spread to seven districts in the country, including Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital.
Zimbabwe has recorded 282 suspected cholera cases and 275 recoveries and a total of 4, 923 people have been administered with oral cholera vaccine in a four-day campaign covering the most affected farms and residential areas in Glendale and Mazowe districts of Mashonaland Central Province, currently the epicenter of the current outbreak.
The current outbreak came just a few months after the government declared in August of last year an end to another nationwide outbreak that began in February 2023. According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, the outbreak caused more than 700 confirmed or suspected deaths in the African country.
Zimbabwe has faced persistent cholera outbreaks over the past years due to poor water and sanitation infrastructure.
