A three-year-old child has died of cholera in Mayotte, the regional health agency and the prefecture said in a press release on Wednesday. This is the first death recorded in the territory since the first case was identified in mid-March.
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A cholera epidemic in Mayotte has caused the first death of a three-year-old child in the commune of Cungou, the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency reported on Wednesday, May 8.
“Today our first child died,” they wrote in a joint press release. “The child lived in the Kungu area, where several cases of cholera have been detected in recent weeks.”
The first death came on the eve of a visit by Health Minister Frederic Valletu to the Indian Ocean island planned for several days.
“Native” cases from the end of April
According to the latest official report, the first cases of cholera in Mayotte were recorded in mid-March among people returning from neighboring Comoros, where the epidemic is rapidly growing with 98 deaths.
In Mayotte, the first “native” cases, diagnosed in patients who did not leave the French island, appeared at the end of April.
Cholera, a bacterial disease that can cause acute diarrhea and lead to death from dehydration within one to three days, is spread through contaminated water or food. There are effective vaccines and treatments.
Since mid-March, Mahore authorities have recorded 58 cholera cases, including six active cases, according to the latest report on May 6.
The protocol to prevent the spread of the disease, drawn up in February, provides for disinfection of the patient’s home, identification and treatment of contact persons, as well as “ring” vaccination, gradually expanding the area around the home of the cholera patient.
With AFP
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