Mozambique’s health minister announced that a cholera outbreak had been declared in the city of Quelimane, in the center of the country hardest hit by Cyclone Freddy and where six people have died from the disease since Wednesday.
“The provincial authorities must announce [o surto de] cholera and an Emergency Operations Center will be set up to ensure regular data exchange,” said Armindo Thiago from the city.
Provincial data show that six of the more than 100 patients seen at the Quelimane Hospital Cholera Treatment Center have died since Wednesday.
Areas with dangerous conditions, lack of potable water, sanitary and hygienic conditions are what worries the authorities in Quelimane most of all, especially after the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy, which killed 53 people in the Zambezia province over the past week.
Mozambique is one of 12 African countries affected by cholera, a sanitation-related disease that breaks out seasonally during the rainy season.
Since September 2022, the Portuguese-speaking country has already recorded 54 deaths from the disease and more than 200 people have been hospitalized in treatment centers opened in places where outbreaks have been declared.
The Government of Mozambique, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, is running an ongoing vaccination campaign that is expected to reach 720,000 people across the country.
The WHO warns that the cholera outbreak is exacerbated by “extreme weather events and conflicts that increase vulnerability as people are forced to leave their homes and face dangerous living conditions.”
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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