Africa-Press – Mozambique. The cholera outbreak in Mozambique has worsened in recent weeks,with 2,200new cases and six deaths, bringing the number of deaths since September 2022 to 150, according to official figures available to Lusa on Thursday.
According to the most recent bulletin on the progression of the disease, drawn up by the National Directorate of Public Health, the current cholera outbreak in Mozambique has seen an accumulation of 36,617 cases, from 14 September 2022 to 8 November 2023, which have caused 150 deaths.
In the previous 24 hours there were 75 new cases and 50 people hospitalised due to the disease.
The bulletin with data up to 5 September – after stabilising in August – reported 144 deaths and an accumulated 34,352 cases of the disease, with only one district with an active outbreak.
Mozambique now has 2,265 cases in about two months, and six more deaths, rising to seven districts with an active outbreak on 8 November, which marks the beginning of the country’s rainy season.
Since 14 September 2022, the province of Zambézia continues to be the worst affected, with a total of 13,972 cases of the disease and 38 deaths, followed by Sofala, with 7,527 cases and 30 deaths, Tete, with 3,775 cases and 24 deaths, and Niassa, with 3,501 cases and 25 deaths.
The Mozambican government announced on Tuesday that it was sending brigades to four provinces in the country affected by cholera to monitor the situation and look for solutions to stop the disease, a day after outbreaks were announced in some districts.
The brigades will be sent from Friday to Nampula and Cabo Delgado (in the north of the country) and Zambézia and Tete (in the centre), provinces that “show signs of the need for a sharper approach to the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhoea” associated with cholera, said Filimão Suaze, spokesperson for the Cabinet, during a press conference after the executive meeting in Maputo.
The brigades “are travelling to these provinces to monitor the situation and above all to better coordinate the solutions that the government has to propose for this issue,” said Filimão Suaze.
On Monday, the health authorities in Zambézia province, in central Mozambique, declared outbreaks of cholera in the districts of Gurué, Mocuba and Gilé, with a total of 499 people hospitalised due to the disease.
READ: Mozambique: Government sends brigades to monitor cholera cases in four provinces
Cholera is a disease that causes severe diarrhoea, which is treatable but can lead to death from dehydration if it is not tackled promptly.
The disease is largely caused by ingesting contaminated food and water due to poor sanitation.
In May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that the world will have a shortage of cholera vaccines by 2025 and that one billion people in 43 countries could be infected with the disease, pointing to Mozambique as one of the countries most at risk in October.
Mozambique is considered to be one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, a situation that exacerbates the lack of infrastructure and services to prevent the disease.
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