QNA:
The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday evening, that Mozambique will witness the worst cholera outbreak in more than a decade, following its impact from Hurricane Freddy last February.
“Outbreaks of cholera occur regularly in Mozambique between October and April, but with around 21,000 cases and 95 deaths, this is the largest outbreak in the country in more than a decade,” said Dr. Severin Ritter von Zelander, WHO Representative in Mozambique. He pointed out that the province of “Manica”, located in the center-east of the country, records many injuries every day, after it was devoid of any infection over the past 15 years.
He stressed that the epidemic is spreading geographically, indicating that the disease has spread to five new regions during the past week alone.
Von Zelander also mentioned that the flood waters caused by Hurricane “Freddy” are now receding, but access to drinking water and sanitation is still difficult, at a time when the floods destroyed about a third of the crops, “alerting the risk of a significant increase in the number of infections with malaria during the few weeks.” In the future, the already high rate of malnutrition will increase.
The reports of the United Nations organization indicate that cholera cases have been recorded in 47 regions spread over eight of the country’s 11 provinces, while the country is witnessing vaccination campaigns to prevent an increase in the spread of this disease, targeting more than 1.35 million people, just as it expressed concern about the possibility of an outbreak of malaria.
Mozambique was one of the African countries hit by Hurricane “Freddy” twice in a few weeks, destroying more than 132,000 homes, displacing 184,000 people, and damaging 163 health facilities in the country.
