Mozambique: New cholera cases falling; 124 deaths, 27,000 cases since September

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Mozambique: New cholera cases falling; 124 deaths, 27,000 cases since September

12:56 CAT | 20 Apr 2023

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: INS]

The number of new cholera cases in Mozambique is tending to fall, with a total of 124 deaths and over 27,000 cases recorded since September, the country’s authorities have announced.

“The outbreak reached a peak phase between the 12th and 13th epidemiological week,” José Paulo, of the National Institute of Health (INS), said in an interview with STV television broadcast on Tuesday. “It is currently in a descending phase, although we have some new outbreaks.”

Mozambique’s health authorities also said on Tuesday that they need at least 2 million more doses of vaccine against the disease to cover high-risk areas, but reported difficulties in obtaining them.

“The country has already placed an order for new vaccines, but I must say that it has not yet had an answer because there is a lot of demand globally,” said Domingos Guihole, the head of the Health and Surveillance department at the Ministry of Health (Misau).

Mozambique had registered 121 new cases of cholera in the previous 24 hours, with no deaths, according to Tuesday’s daily bulletin from the Public Health Directorate.

The storms of February and March, particularly Cyclone Freddy, aggravated the situation: this is the worst outbreak of the disease in the country in the last decade, according to the World Health Organisation.

Cholera is a disease that causes severe diarrhoea, which is treatable, but can cause death from dehydration if not promptly combatted – and is caused largely by ingesting food and water contaminated by lack of sanitation networks.

Mozambique, which is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, is still in the tail-end of the rainy and cyclonic season, which occurs between the months of October and April.

Source: Lusa