Mozambique Cholera Cases Top 1,000 in Wake of Cyclone Idai

(Bloomberg) -- Mozambique has confirmed more than 1,000 cases of cholera as an outbreak of the water-borne disease spreads rapidly following a tropical cyclone last month which has so far killed at least 598 people in the southeast African nation.

The number of cholera infections rose to 1,052 from 246 on March 30, with most cases in the port city of Beira, the health ministry said on Monday. Almost 900,000 vaccine doses arrived in the city Tuesday and a vaccination campaign will begin immediately, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. The disease, which causes diarrhea and dehydration, can kill if untreated. At least one person has so far died from it.

“We must do everything we can to protect the people of Mozambique from a disease outbreak or other health problems caused by lack of access to essential services,” Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Africa director, said in a statement Monday after touring Beira. “The next few weeks are crucial and speed is of the essence if we are to save lives and limit suffering.”

The cholera outbreak is compounding what United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has described as one of the worst weather-related disasters in African history. More than 930 people have died in flooding across Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi, and the toll continues to rise.

Torrential rains that created an inland ocean the size of Luxembourg also destroyed or damaged about 100,000 houses in central Mozambique, according to the UN. At least 141,000 people are currently sheltering across 161 sites in affected areas as damage to water and sanitation infrastructure in Beira fuels concerns that the cholera outbreak may continue to spread.

Mozambique has suffered cholera outbreaks in each of the last six years, according to the WHO. Between August 2017 and February last year, 1,799 people were infected and one died.

In addition to fighting disease, with at least 281 cases of malaria confirmed in Beira and surrounding areas, the government and aid agencies are struggling to provide sufficient food supplies.

More than 669,903 hectares (1.6 million acres) of crops have been damaged, a bigger area than the U.S. state of Delaware, just as farmers were preparing to harvest, according to the UN. Staple food prices more than doubled after the cyclone, particularly for rice and corn, in the central region, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Hill in Maputo at mhill58@bloomberg.net;Borges Nhamire in Maputo at bnhamire@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alastair Reed at areed12@bloomberg.net, Andre Janse van Vuuren

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