Mozambique hit by cyclone fears cholera outbreak

Doctors and nurses wearing boots and masks in Wellington took care of patients in tents at a hastily installed treatment center in Beira, Mozambique, following the devastation of Hurricane Idai and its aftermath.

Several dozens of patients suspected of having cholera, an infection caused by a bacterium, have been clustered outside of the Macurungo neighborhood hospital depending on the severity of their symptoms, which may include diarrhea

"We leave nothing to chance.All cases of diarrhea are treated as possible cases of cholera," said a local health official as the smell of chlorine used to clean patients' shoes filled the tent .

Two weeks after the devastating cyclone struck Mozambique, authorities and aid workers are scrambling to avoid an epidemic.

At least 139 cholera cases have been reported in and around Beira, according to official statistics released Thursday.

"Until now, no one has died of cholera," said top Mozambican health official Ussein Isse.

But there is fertile ground for the spread of infection and for worsening the situation.

Hurricane Idai killed more than 700 people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless – many of whom were forced to use dirty water .

"We were thirsty"

"Cholera spreads through the feces, flooding tends to flood all the toilets, latrines, and all this goes up and contaminates the water table and the water supply," said David Wightwick, chief of operations. the World Health Organization in the affected region. Region.

"It's very easy to convey."

In one of Macurungo's tents, Vitoria washed her daughter Irene, who was three years old, lying on a bed.

"She has diarrhea because she has been drinking contaminated water a few days ago," said the woman with a slight figure and hair pulled back.

"After the floods, we had no more drinking water, but we were thirsty and had no choice," said the young woman.

Large quantities of drinking water and water purification units were delivered in the affected areas accessible to the aid teams as well as to nine health centers, of which Macurungo.

"We should be able to handle the outbreak," Wightwick said, adding that strict hygiene measures would be needed to tame the situation.

"We have 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccines coming in on Monday, and we will start the vaccination campaign as soon as possible, and teams are already trained.

"There is one dose per person which means that people will benefit from three months' protection, which saves us a little bit of time and that means we will probably have to carry out an additional vaccination."

& # 39; Manage the epidemic & # 39;

One of the biggest challenges remains providing badistance to communities isolated by floods.

"A lot of help is going to some places, there are others that are still cut off," warned Wightwick.

The WHO official said that an advertising blitz aimed at raising public awareness of the cholera situation was underway.

"We already have teams in Beira with loudspeakers in the streets explaining what people have to do, and a radio campaign is underway," he said.

Washing hands, avoiding contaminated water and separating cooked foods from the suspect water are some of the "relatively simple procedures (required) to manage the outbreak," he added.

People with diarrhea are urged to seek immediate help from a medical center.

A humanitarian worker said that "cholera is relatively easy to detect by examining stools that, in infected patients, have the same consistency as cooked rice water".

Several beds in the Mucurungo Medical Center are already free, but doctors and nurses warn that the worst is yet to come.

"At the moment, we have four tents with beds to manage patients," said a senior medical official, who requested anonymity.

"But ideally, we would have many more."