Five cholera cases reported in cyclone-hit Mozambique

BEIRA: Five cases of cholera have been confirmed in Mozambique following the cyclone that ravaged the country killing at least 468 people, a government health official said.

Cyclone Idai smashed into Mozambique on March 15, unleashing hurricane-force winds and heavy rains that flooded much of the centre of the poor southern African country and then battered eastern Zimbabwe and Malawi.

The Red Cross has previously warned of a “ticking bomb of disease” and called for the deployment of medicines and health professionals to avert a full-blown health disaster.

“We have five cases of cholera which have been confirmed. This is in Beira and the area around,” the health official, Ussein Isse, said, referring to the port city that bore the brunt of the cyclone’s force.

Cholera, a water borne disease that thrives in conditions of poor hygiene, causes acute diarrhoea that can prove fatal if untreated.

“We were expecting cholera cases and we were prepared for this. We have put all the measures in place to try to mitigate the spread of cholera as much as we can,” said Emma Batey, a coordinator at the Cosaca emergency aid consortium.

Stagnant water, decomposing bodies and lack of sanitation in overcrowded shelters in Mozambique could create breeding grounds for typhus and malaria in addition to cholera, experts say.

Cosaca said further heavy rains “would complicate the situation”.

“There will be more cases because cholera is epidemic. When you have one case you can expect more. We are implementing preventive measures to limit the impact,” Isse said.

In Beira’s morgue, 90% of those killed by the cyclone and its aftermath had been identified and collected by their families.

“We’ve had a lot of work in the past week, it’s been very hard,” said morgue official Manuel Girimoyo, who added that around 50 bodies remained unidentified.

UN humanitarian aid chief Mark Lowcock has appealed for US$282mil (RM1.15bil) of relief aid over the next three months for Mozambique.

The Un’s World Food Programme said roughly 3,125sq km of land had been swamped.

About 400,000ha of crops – primarily maize – were washed away just weeks before the main April-May harvest, it said. — AFP