Mozambique : Alarming Increase Of Cholera Cases

The World Health Organization has said Mozambique is going through its worst cholera outbreak in more than a decade after the wake of Cyclone Freddy. The information was made public on Friday, by the World Health Organization representative in the southeast of the country, Severin von Xylander. Speaking during a press briefing via video link from Maputo the WHO expert said, “While cholera outbreaks regularly occur in Mozambique between October to April, with almost 21,000 cases and 95 deaths, the current outbreak is the largest in more than a decade.” He added that the outbreak that has already spread to many neighboring areas is still “expanding geographically.”
Eight of the country’s 11 Provinces have been affected. Quelimane is the worst-affected city and in the last 24 hours, 132 people have been admitted to cholera treatment centres and 350 people have received cholera care visits. “After the landfall of Freddy, the number of cases exploded from less than 20 a day and increased tenfold" in the city, Von Xylander said. A first cholera vaccination campaign started in late February in four provinces. More than 715,000 people were given a single shot. A second campaign was launched Thursday in Quelimane, targeting 410,000 people. Vaccination programmes will be extended to other provinces, with more than 1.35 million people currently being targeted. 
Cyclone Freddy destroyed more than 132,000 homes and 184,000 people were disp...