Cholera kills at least 100 in east

As many as 100 people have died of cholera in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo since January, say medics. At least 75 people have died and 6,392 are infected, in the worst hit area, South Kivu Province is the worst affected, said Eugene Kabambi, at the United Nations’ World Health Organisation (WHO) there. Nearby, in north Kivu Province, 48 people have died and 4,609 people infected between January and 13 September, a WHO report said.

Poor hygiene is to blame for the outbreaks, said North Kivu medical inspector, Dominique Bahago. "The majority of the population’s supply of cooking and drinking water is from Lake Kivu where all kinds of waste is dumped; cholera is endemic in that zone," he told the UN news service. Cramped living conditions in camps for homeless people, as well as poor use of latrines, had made contamination worse, he said. Two million people have been forced from their homes in eastern DRC, according to estimates and some of them have been repeatedly homeless since the start of conflict there in 1996.

Aid workers are helping to hand out water to people affected in North Kivu, chlorinating water, disinfecting buildings and teaching people about basic hygiene. "As the rainy season arrives in this cholera endemic zone, it is very important to take measures that will allow for the spread of this epidemic to be contained," said Catherine Savoy for The International Committee of the Red Cross. "Access to safe water, proper sanitation and health services is essential to prevent diseases from spreading to those displaced on roads, residing in temporary camps and living in established communities,” said WHO's Dr Eric Laroche. Treatment for cholera includes the issue of rehydration salts, however death can occur in adults within hours, according to the WHO.

More than 10,000 cases of cholera have been recorded in the Kivus since the beginning of the year, according to the WHO. More than half of all reported cases of cholera occur in Sub-Saharan Africa, with most of these in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), which has been at the centre of what could be termed Africa's world war. The five-year conflict pitted government forces, supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, against rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda. Despite a peace deal and a transitional government being formed in 2003, the threat of civil war has re-emerged in the east of the country. The war claimed an estimated three million lives, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition. It has, according to the BBC, been called possibly the worst emergency to unfold in Africa in recent decades.

By Hayley Jarvis for SOS Children