Moz cholera cases top 1 500
2006-02-08 09:28
Maputo - More than 1 500 cases of cholera have been recorded in flood-stricken Mozambique, especially in the worst-hit central region, says a senior health official on Tuesday.
Deputy director for health Martinho Dgedge said: "Since the start of this year, we have received in our hospitals 1 506 cholera patients of whom three died."
He said the deaths took place in the central province of Sofala, one of the worst hit by the floods.
Mozambique's ambassador to Portugal on Monday said the southern African nation was bracing for a cholera epidemic.
Ambassador Miguel Mkaima said: "We expect that at any moment cholera will spread to the entire country, especially the areas worst-affected by the heavy rains."
Severe diarrhoea, dehydration
Cholera was highly infectious and was mostly caused by consumption of contaminated food and water in poor sanitary conditions. It led to severe diarrhoea, dehydration and sometimes death.
At least 21 people had died since December as a result of heavy rains, which had swept the entire country, where tens of thousands of families had been affected by the rising water.
The rainy season in Mozambique begins in December and usually lasts until March.
Last month Mozambique officials asked international donors for some $20m to help it provide disaster relief in the country, which only had 150 boats and 1 000 tents to provide emergency aid.
In early 2000, about 1 000 people lost their lives in floods that caused widespread devastation in Mozambique, which was also struggling to rebuild after a 16-year war that ended in 1992.