Cameroon Cholera Kills 472 in 8 Regions

Written by Eugene N. Nforngwa, The Standard Tribune

Wednesday, 23 March 2011 12:16

Over 23, 500 cases report since May 2010; risk still high

In an outbreak lasting ten months now, cholera has killed 472 and sickened 23,570 people in up to eight of the country’s ten regions (provinces), the minister of public health revealed on Tuesday, 22 March 2011.

Most cases were reported in 2010, revealed Mama Fouda, who told a news conference that 2052 cases have already been reported this year. With potable water supply still insufficient in most cities, there were fears things would only get worse.

The outbreak was first reported in remote parts of the country’s northern regions in May 2010 but has now spread and become more rampant in urban centres, particularly the city of Douala, where clean water is largely absent and sanitary infrastructure is very thin.

“The epidemic is more present in towns than in villages,” the Mama Fouda said, adding that “the closeness of water wells and latrines” in the cities appear to be a major factor.

In response to the outbreak, authorities launched a public information campaign, urging the public through radio and television announcements to adopt basic hygiene practices like washing hands and to seek early medical help when symptoms appear.

Water shortages remain a big problem in the main cities of Cameroon, with most households relying on wells for daily supplies.

In the capital Yaounde, where supply is only about 100,000 metric cubes a day against a demand of more than 300,000 metric cubes – the water distribution company has resorted to rationing, with neighbourhoods having only about six to eight hours of water daily.

Studies conducted last year by Centre Pasteur, the country’s most trusted laboratory, showed that every single tested well in the most populous neighbourhoods in the cities of Douala and Yaounde were unfit for human consumption.

Tuesday, a consumer group began campaigning against the sale of water, particularly of doubtful quality, in the streets of the major towns and villages.