The Ministry of Health has urged the public to adhere to good hygiene practices so as to contain the spread of cholera which has so far infected more than 1,300 people and already claimed the lives of at least 16 dead.
Cholera broke out in the Islands last September as a result of contaminated water in the wells, widely used by the people in the upcountry areas. According to the Unguja Island medical superitendent, Dr Fadhil Mohamed, cholera cases are still being reported on both Unguja and Pemba.
“There has been fluctuation of cholera patients. At the beginning the number of patients brought to treatment camps was between two and four people daily, before shooting to ten people last month. Now it has dropped to between two and three people,” Dr Mohamed said.
He said that those who lost their lives succumbed to acute diarrhoea after they delayed to report to treatment camps. He said that any sign of cholera should be reported quickly to the nearby hospital.
He said more than 520 people have been infected on Unguja Island whereas in Pemba the number is even higher.
According to reports, more than 600 people have contracted the killer disease in Pemba. A total of seven treatment camps including five in Pemba have been established.
