Cholera kills over 100 in Katanga province

A cholera outbreak in Katanga province, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) claimed the lives of 100 people in August, while over 2,500 cases were detected, the NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres, said. In a press statement released on Thursday, MSF said the disease was spreading especially rapidly in the health zone of Kikondja, a region which was already at the centre of a previous outbreak earlier in the year. Malemba N'kulu, Bukama, Ankoro and Kalemi are also areas of concern. "We are especially worried about the speed with which the cholera epidemic is spreading," said Luc Nicholas, operational coordinator with MSF. "These last two weeks the number of cases in Kinondja has risen from 81 cases to 627 - and we have not seen the peak of the epidemic yet." He said that one patient in four or five was expected to die, with 157 deaths being recorded so far out of 627 cases. Cholera - characterised by copious watery diarrhoea, leading to severe dehydration - was a "typical poor man's disease", added Nicholas. "People in Kikondja were weakened because they can't afford a balanced diet and health care." On 6 September the DRC Minister for Health, Mashako Mamba, said that since January this year, 18,587 cases of cholera had occurred in the Katanga region, with 1,088 deaths. He highlighted the negative repercussions of population movents within the province. Meanwhile, MSF said recent reports indicated that an epidemic may also have broken out in northeastern DRC, in the health zone of Lubutu, Maniema province. A total of 97 cases were detected last week, including 27 deaths.