Mozambique authorities asked the World Health organizations for the financial and medical assistance due to the first cases of cholera, SkyNews reported. In the cyclone-ravaged city of Beira, the medics have confirmed five cholera cases.
The UN officials said that at least 350,000 people are still at risk due to rising water levels in urban and rural areas of Mozambique. The African country suffers from Cyclone Idai and torrential rains, while the UNICEF warned that 900,000 children have been affected by the natural disaster. Many of them are either orphaned, separated from their families or lacking basic necessities.
The most alarming news is five cholera cases in Munhava, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Beira city with its 500,000 inhabitants. The city suffers from the deficit of clean water and sanitation after Cyclone Idai ripped through Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi last week. One of the most powerful cyclones took lives of more than 1,000 people are thought to be dead in Mozambique alone after the cyclone.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cholera and other severe infections are logical consequences of such natural disaster as torrential rains and floodings. So far, cholera is a major concern for survivors who are now living in overcrowded camps and other premises.
The infectious disease is spread by contaminated food and water that causes severe diarrhoea and can kill within a matter of hours.
Cholera cases confirmed in Mozambique after Cyclone Idai
The international community has reacted immediately to Cyclone Idai’s consequences. The medical charity Doctors Without Borders warns local survivors that the most important for them now is drinking the clean water while many people are said to be drinking from contaminated wells, with the aid group claiming they had seen hundreds of cases of acute watery diarrhoea in the past few days.
“The scale of extreme damage will likely lead to a dramatic increase of waterborne diseases, skin infections, respiratory tract infections and malaria in the coming days and weeks,” Gert Verdock of Doctors Without Borders said.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi is set to address the nation on Wednesday afternoon about how the government is responding to the cyclone.
Emergency responders have claimed the number of victims will likely rise as more bodies could be found as floodwaters drain away, adding that the actual number of deaths may never be known.
