Abidjan – A cholera outbreak in Ivory Coast has killed seven people in the economic capital Abidjan since late May, the health ministry said Thursday, adding that there had been no new cases in four days.
Numerous African countries are grappling with outbreaks of cholera – an acute intestinal infection – with Sudan, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola among the most affected.
African leaders held emergency talks Wednesday to discuss the surge in cases.
“A cholera outbreak… is affecting the locality of Vridi Akobrakre village,” in Abidjan’s Port-Bouet district, said Daniel Ekra, director of the health ministry’s national institute of public hygiene (INHP), in a press conference.
“Following stool sample analyses conducted by Ivory Coast’s Pasteur Institute, the cholera vibrio was identified, confirming the cholera outbreak,” he said.
Ivory Coast has experienced several significant cholera outbreaks since the 1990s, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), but had not been affected for several years.
Ekra said the ministry recorded 45 cases — including seven deaths, which all happened inside the village of Vridi Akobrakre, in the first two days of the outbreak.
“No death occurred in a hospital setting,” he said, adding that “the outbreak is showing a satisfactory trend as there have been no new cases observed for four consecutive days.”
Most cases of cholera an infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated by a bacterium – detected in Abidjan were among adults, Ekra told AFP.
Thousands of people live in the poor coastal village of Vridi Akobrakre, which is almost entirely surrounded by water.
“Most people defecate in the open” due to the lack of proper bathrooms, Ekra said, also stressing the lack of drinkable water.
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Source: AFP
