After the passage of the cyclone Idai, five “confirmed” cholera infections have already been established in Mozambique. The local government has announced this.
The infections were detected in the area of the city of Beira, which was severely hit by the cyclone and the floods. National health director Ussein Isse fears that the number of infections will increase even further.
“Cholera is pandemic. If you have one case, you can fear that more will come, ”it sounds. “We set up preventive measures to limit the consequences.”
Environment Minister Celso Correia had already warned on Sunday that the living conditions in the disaster area would make a cholera epidemic “inevitable”.
Cyclone Idai caused massive damage on March 15 in an area of hundreds of kilometres in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The region was devastated by storms, and heavy rainfall cleared large regions.
In total, more than 700 people have died. In Mozambique alone, 468 people were killed.
Across the entire region, 1.8 million people have been affected, and around 600,000 have been displaced, say various UN organisations.