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

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 U.N. 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 1.6 million acres of crops have been damaged just as farmers were preparing to harvest, according to the U.N.