Mozambique records first cholera cases after cyclone Kenneth



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Fourteen cholera cases have been confirmed in northern Mozambique as a result of floods caused by the strong cyclone that hit the country last week, provincial authorities said Friday.

The city of Pemba recorded 11 cases of the disease, while the neighboring district of Mecufi had three.

"We were already prepared for this – the health sector has been on the alert since hurricane Kenneth began," provincial health director Anastacia Lidimo told reporters.

Hurricane Kenneth made landfall on April 25 in Cabo Delgado province, in the north of the country, with winds of up to 220 kilometers per hour, striking an area that has not seen a tropical cyclone. in the modern era.

Cholera is spread by drinking water or contaminated food and causes acute diarrhea. By EMIDIO JOZINE (AFP / File) Cholera is spread by drinking water or contaminated food and causes acute diarrhea. By EMIDIO JOZINE (AFP / File)

It has killed at least 41 people and affected 226,000 people, destroyed thousands of homes and destroyed water supply systems.

It was the second mbadive storm to hit Mozambique in six weeks after Cyclone Idai devastated the port city of Beira 1,000 kilometers to the south, causing mbadive floods and more than 600 deaths.

Cholera is spread by drinking water or contaminated food and causes acute diarrhea.

According to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, Pemba, a city of 200,000 inhabitants and capital of Cabo Delgado province, is in one of Mozambique's most cholera-affected areas.

In Beira, the impoverished and aid-dependent country administered nearly 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccines after Cyclone Idai to prevent an epidemic.

At least four deaths from cholera were recorded in Beira and the surrounding districts in 4,979 cases.

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