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Johannesburg – The number of cholera cases among survivors of a devastating cyclone in central Mozambique has climbed to 139, officials said, while nearly one million doses of vaccine are routed through the country. region.
The Portuguese news agency Lusa announced this figure Thursday night, citing the national health official, Ussein Isse, who had declared the outbreak the day before with only five confirmed cases.
Cholera is a major concern for hundreds of thousands of survivors who now live in squalid conditions in camps, schools and sodden homes. The disease is spread by contaminated food and water, causes acute diarrhea and can kill within hours if not treated with oral rehydration solution or intravenous fluids in severe cases. .
The World Health Organization has warned of a "second disaster" if water-borne diseases such as cholera spread. On Tuesday, 900,000 cholera oral vaccines were on the way.
"You can imagine how much we are sitting on a time bomb for water and sanitation," said Elhadj As Sy, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cross Societies. Red Crescent, at the Associated Press last week, after a visit to a school. 3,000 survivors were sheltering with only six toilets between them.
Some of the hardest-hit communities remained without help 15 days after Cyclone Idai.
They rely on highly polluted water, said Friday the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), adding that it was urgent to have clear water and medical supplies.
Even in the port city of Beira, the hub of international relief, some of its 500,000 residents have been drinking stagnant water along the road, increasing the risk of diarrhea, the organization said. medical charity Doctors without borders. Others drink contaminated wells.
The help group has witnessed hundreds of cases of acute watery diarrhea this week.
The death toll in Mozambique stands at 493 on Friday, with at least 259 dead in Zimbabwe and 56 in Malawi. Officials cautioned that these figures were preliminary and that final figures may never be known. Some bodies were found and buried without being registered with the authorities. Others were washed away.
As flood waters continue to drain, more and more bodies should be found.
Mozambique's president, Filipe Nyusi, announced on Thursday that the search and rescue phase was over. He also said that health care would be free for residents of areas affected by the hurricane until the end of the year, reported Lusa.
According to the United Nations, some 1.8 million people need urgent help in this soggy and largely rural region. Hunger is another source of growing concern as the storm destroyed crops on the eve of harvest.
Officials have found a slim hope in the weather, which seems to have not rained for several days.
AP
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