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The outbreak has caused the deaths of 10 people, while
about 260 have received medical treatment or been
hospitalised in treatment centres in Maputo. The cholera
outbreak has spread to the southern province of Gaza
where 84 cases have been diagnosed, two people have
died, and 30 are currently undergoing treatment in
special cholera wards.
Although only Maputo city and three provinces have
recorded cases so far, the Mozambican health authorities
have declared a cholera alert throughout the entire
country. They have instructed all 11 provincial health
directorates to ensure that every district is properly
equipped to respond immediately to any cholera outbreak.
Visiting the Mavalane cholera treatment centre in
Maputo, the Minister of Health stated that
his ministry's main concern is to ensure supplies of
clean drinking water.
The head of the community health department
in the Maputo City Council told AIM that currently 188
people are undergoing medical care at the Cholera
Treatment Centre in the Mavalane General Hospital. At
the beginning of January 73 people were hospitalised in
a serious condition. He said, "Normally, cases of
cholera tend to appear in the rainy season because of
poor sanitation conditions and failure by people to
observe basic rules of hygiene". The Maputo City Health
Directorate claims that the situation is under control
and there is no reason for alarm. "We are able to
respond to the demand for our services," he said.
"There is no shortage of medicines, we have enough
staff, and we are taking the necessary measures so that
the situation does not deteriorate any further".
The Ministry of Health is ensuring that precautions are
taken throughout the country. Two days after the
countrywide alert 15 690 people in Beira had already
received their second dose of an oral cholera vaccine.
The first dose was given in December to 53 980 people,
all of whom were requested to return for the second
dose. Health workers will continue to administer the
second dose of the vaccine until 13 January.
This is the first ever experiment in mass vaccination
against cholera: if successful, it may be repeated, not
only in other Mozambican cities, but elsewhere in the
developing world.
Dr Pierre Kahozi of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) told IRIN, the UN news and
information network, that the outbreak was "still
ongoing" and it was feared the death toll could rise.
“The outbreak started on Christmas Eve, and there were
86 new cases admitted to the cholera treatment centre
[in Maputo]. The day before it was 73, so the outbreak
is still ongoing – and with the rains the number will
increase dramatically," he warned. Cholera is endemic in
Mozambique, but Dr. Kahozi noted that this year's
outbreak seemed to be more severe than that of the
previous year.
The ministry of health is convening a meeting with
partners to inform the international community about the
situation, and also to make an appeal. Because the
outbreak is spreading preventive measures need to be
taken even in the provinces that have not reported cases
as yet. The ministry has already requested support from
the European NGO, Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF -
Doctors without Borders), which is now erecting large
tanks for clean water in those Maputo neighbourhoods
that are short of water.
MSF-Switzerland head of mission
in Mozambique, told
IRIN they were providing
safe drinking water in two neighbourhoods affected by
cholera in Maputo. "We are
also doing some chlorination
of wells in some areas, and
are continuously going to
the cholera treatment centre to identify where people
[admitted with cholera] are from. This is so we can go
to their families and do some treatment with chlorine,"
he explained. He noted that a major cause for concern
was the lack of staff at the cholera treatment centre.
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