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MSF PROVIDES ATTENTION TO VICTIMS OF A CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN TWO HEALTH ZONES OF KATANGA PROVINCE
Since October 18th, when the MSF team received the first cases of cholera in the health zones of Pweto and Kabalo, located in the province of Katanga, south-east of DRC, the organization has attended more than 500 cases in Pweto, where the majority of cases have occurred. Until now, there have been 12 deaths. On October 23rd MSF received the highest number of new cases in one day: 62. Since then, cases have decreased to between 17 to 20 new cases a day at the beginning of November. This outbreak has affected mainly people over the age of five, although on October 27th MSF received 15 new cases of children less than five years old. In the Health Zone of Kabalo the number of cases is considerably smaller. There, MSF has attended to 60 patients, and at the moment there have not been any deaths. “The fast response of teams in situ has been crucial for the quite low mortality rate in the outbreak (- 2,5% in our health structures). I think this has been possible thanks to the Emergency Preparedness Plan and to the staff of the mission with outbreaks experience”, assures Dr. Silvia Morote, medical responsible for MSF-Spain programs in DRC. In Pweto Health Zone, MSF has installed two Cholera Treatment Centres (CTC) in the Health Centre of Boma and in Chamfubú Hospital respectively, and also 2 Cholera Treatment Units (CTU) in Health Centres of Kakonona and Kapulo. 9 oral re-hydration posts in several communities complete the structures that MSF has installed in the Health Zone of Pweto, where the outbreak is hitting hardest. In Kabala, MSF has opened a CTC in the hospital and a CTU in Kitule, located 50 kms from Kabalo, where 12 cases have been attended since October 27th. MSF has sent 10.000 lts of intravenous solution, over 3.500 doses
of saline solution for oral re-hydration, and has purified dozens
of thousands of litres of water. In addition Unicef has donated medical
and logistical material to the MSF team working in the outbreak. “Although the situation seems under control, we should keep alert especially in the most remote areas. According to the experience of other outbreaks, we expect that the outbreak will last more or less two months. This kind of outbreaks happen cyclically each four or five years. The last outbreaks happened here exactly five years ago. In that time, there were 1.500 cases and 93 dead. The duration of the outbreaks is more or less the same as the rain station which begins around October and finishes in February”, says Dr. Morote. MSF-Spain has been working in Pweto since 2001 and in Kabalo since 2002 providing primary and hospital health care, with special attention to internal displaced people. Read other articles on Cholera
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