CHAD: Cholera outbreak spreads to capital
Pastor Dale Morgan
*CHAD: Cholera outbreak spreads to capital*
24 Oct 2006 18:28:06 GMT
Source: IRIN
NDJAMENA, 24 October (IRIN) - More than 900 people have been diagnosed
with cholera in Chad since April, including more than 200 in the capital
N'djamena where the first case was only diagnosed last week, Chadian
health workers said.
"Every day, we receive new cholera patients," a hospital worker at
N'djamena's dilapidated Liberty Hospital told IRIN on Monday. "In the
last 24 hours alone we have registered 13 new cases."
So far one person has died in the capital. A doctor with the medical NGO
Doctors Without Borders told IRIN that the most severe cases have been
recorded in the town of Bol in the Lake Chad region of Chad, 120 km
northwest of N'djamena, where four people have died.
Cholera is an intestinal infection that causes acute diarrhoea leading
to dehydration and death unless quickly treated. The disease is usually
spread by contaminated water, food and dirty cooking conditions.
Treatment is happening in areas around N'djamena the minister of public
health Carmelle Sou Ngarmbatna said. "Teams continue to work on the
ground. More have already left N'djamena to support them," the minister
said.
The Chadian National Technical Committee for Epidemics said it is
preparing to have facilities for cholera patients in hospitals across
the country.
According to the ministry of health, the government has released CFA 100
million (US $ $191,800) to tackle the outbreak.
Chadian medical officials have not yet declared a Cholera epidemic
however the health ministry said it plans to launch an awareness
campaign in newspapers and on national radio and television, urging
people to wash their hands, cook food well, keep their houses clean and
avoid dirty water.
Cholera had not been reported in West Africa for 100 years until 1970.
Since then, there have been outbreaks in several countries, especially
during rainy seasons.
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