CHOLERA has broken out in Mpulungu in Northern Province.Northern Province permanent secretary Emmanuel Mwamba said in a statement issued in Kitwe yesterday that Mpulungu District Hospital recorded the first case of cholera on August 12.
He said the hospital has treated 52 suspected cases of cholera and recorded one death.
Mr Mwamba said there are seven patients currently admitted to Mpulungu hospital.The most affected villages are on the shores of Lake Tanganyika and these are Kasasa, Tonga, Mupata, Sondwa and Posa although nearly every village has recorded a case of suspected cholera.Mr Mwamba said Government has put in place strong preventive measures to curb the outbreak.
He said a medical team dispatched to the area last week has attributed the outbreak of cholera to the sudden downpour that the country experienced two weeks ago.
Mr Mwamba said he has dispatched Northern Province medical officer Dr Jelita Chinyonga to Mpulungu to help co-ordinate the prevention and treatment of the cholera cases.
He also said the medical team has established an unusual high outbreak of diarrhoea diseases in the surrounding villages.
Mr Mwamba said the medical team is undertaking medical tests to validate and distinguish the cholera cases from normal diarrhea diseases.
He also said Government has banned all gatherings, including funerals, to comply with prevention regulations to help mitigate the outbreak.
He also directed Mpulungu district commissioner Juliana Chuzu to ensure the communities abide by the instructions.
“The medical team is also training communities in identifying the cases, carrying out disinfections in affected homes and areas.
The team is also airing key messages on the local radio station and distributing chlorine on the lakeshore villages,” Mr Mwamba said.
Mr Mwamba also directed Chambeshi Water and Sewerage Company to restore water supply to Mpulungu townships following the breakdown of the service last Friday.
He is concerned that the outbreak of cholera may escalate if water supply is not restored immediately.
Mr Mwamba warned that this will worsen and undermine the prevention mechanisms that the medical team has put in place.
Mpulungu lies on the shores of Africa’s deepest and largest fresh water lake – Tanganyika.
The town usually records cases of cholera during the rainy season.
This is mostly due to unhygienic conditions and lack of latrines and toilets in fishing villages.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
get rid of street vending and you will have sanity in the city.
AND THE LOCAL GOVT EXISTS TOGETHER WITH CITY OR TOWN COUNCILS?
“Mr Mwamba said Government has put in place strong preventive measures to curb the outbreak.”
WHEN THERE’S AN OUTBREAK ALREADY IS IT STILL PREVENTIVE MEASURES?
Isn’t Mpulungu a PF stronghold? Is that (cholera in the middle of a hot dry season) what they voted for? How long will voters continue to forgive PF for non-performance 11 months after taking over govt?
Somebody should ask the Health Minister how many doses of cholera vaccination there are in Zambia….rumour has it there are none at all.
we do need vaccination for cholera…
I meant we DO NOT need vaccination for CHOLERA…It is the same thing they are trying to start giving vaccination for diarrhoea in Africa ‘NO’
You cannot squash vendors because you can’t afford to employ them SO JUST DISCONTINUE THEM FROM SELLING & HANDLING FOOD.
This is Lumumba ka? Mwe lesa wesu plizi! Ama salary increases ni apa na apa. Good grief, what did we do to deserve this kind of living? Ba Jehovah, mulekwata uluse.
UKWA IS A MWACHUSA FONTINI. IF A MAN CAN’T EVEN TRIM HAIRS IN HIS NOSE, HOW DO U EXPECT HIM TO SUPPLY CLEAN WATER TO MPULUNGU? HOW CAN A MAN WHO NEGLECTS HIS OWN TEETH TILL THEY ROT BEGIN TO FIX HIS NEIGHBOURS? IT’LL BE A MIRACLE IF ANYTHING COMES OUT OF UKWA THE MWACHUSA & HIS PAMA FI (PF) FAMILY TREE. MARK MY WORDS
I hear many Zambians saying Zambia is developed, is this part of the development process
I agree with you, narrow thinking is at large because almost every person is running for social mobility…once they own a house and a car ati ni development so annoying…
Messiah bwelelanso ubakwapule nafuti. What did we do to God to deserve this in all fairness. Anyway we had bakasesema like Chanda Chimba III they warned us that we are really heading for disaster should we put some people in power. And now we are reaping the fruits of what we sowed on that fateful day. There is a reason for everything and the reason why some people and some parties are in power is because we were asking for ifiko and what do you expect when you vote for PamaFi (PF). Even some of their own ministers don’t even care what they look like in public worse in private. I rest my case!
PamaFi indeed even in his own back yard! Dirty pipo and dirty thinking.
@rudemonk…. the cholera outbreaks are seasonal and have been there even during MMD and UNIP… its an endemic problem.
The other man was on national television talking about the national service and said that the Unip government was very irrisponsible that is why there was cholera which caused the closure of the national service. Now can Kambwili tell us why there is cholera in mpulungu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!