Cholera returns to haunt Algeria

Cases began appearing in early August and two people have died so far

Outside a hospital in Algeria, worried relatives arrive daily in a desperate bid to talk to those quarantined inside — the victims of the country’s first cholera outbreak in more than 20 years.

Cases began appearing in early August and two people have so far died, with scores hospitalised in Boufarik, about 20km south of Algiers. Said, whose mother has been quarantined for 10 days, told AFP he is “tired and demoralised”.

“I want to visit my mother. But they do not allow me access,” he said.

Only suspected cholera admissions, confirmed cases and staff are allowed into Boufarik hospital’s infectious diseases department, where 91 people have been quarantined. For others, access is “formally forbidden”, said manager Reda Daghbouche.

If they are fit enough to leave their beds, patients on the ground floor can talk to their loved ones through windows.

Standing a metre or so in front of an open window with blue shutters, three women covered their mouths with veils or handkerchiefs, as they exchanged a few words with a relative. Truck driver Fatah spoke through the bars of a locked door to his mother — one of 59 confirmed cases.

“Thank God, she is now on her two feet. When we brought her to the hospital she was in a serious condition; we thought we’d lose her,” he said. Fatah has visited his mother every day for 12 days and “hopes for her release very soon”.