Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, has been declared a state of emergency due to a resurgence of cholera, which has already claimed 51 confirmed lives in the country, infected more than 7,000 people and continues to spread, announced, Friday, November 17, its mayor.
Ian Makone considered the “current situation alarming”, given the number of confirmed cases in most areas of the capital, recognizing that the main cause is the absence of drinking water. “We have declared a state of emergency because the situation is now very serious. The disease is spreading throughout the city,” he told AFP. To date, twelve deaths have been officially recorded in Harare.
More than 7,000 cases of suspected cholera and nearly 150 possibly linked deaths, including 51 confirmed by laboratory tests, have so far been recorded by authorities in the landlocked southern African country. They are on alert, fearing a massacre like in 2008, when cholera caused thousands of deaths there.
No running water
“People have dug wells near pit latrines, especially in boomtowns and other suburbs that don’t have running water. Which means their drinking water is contaminated,” Mr. Makone told AFP.
The town hall, the Ministry of Health and NGOs have joined forces to double the water supply in the affected areas, the mayor said.
According to a Ministry of Health report released Thursday evening, 157 people are currently hospitalized in the country, including sixteen in Harare. And the epidemic has spread to more than 17 districts usually affected by cholera in the country.
An acute diarrheal infection caused by the absorption of food or water contaminated by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae, cholera is on the rise on the continent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).