WHO warns of devastating cholera epidemic in Monrovia

The number of cholera cases is rising again in the Liberian capital Monrovia, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn that a "devastating" epidemic could soon hit the war-torn city of more than one million people. WHO said in a statement that an estimated 260 new cases of cholera were appearing every week, compared to 25 at the same time last year. Controlling the epidemic was "the most pressing health problem" in the city, it added. The organisation said it had registered 3,890 cases of cholera in Monrovia so far this year, 62 percent of which been recorded since the beginning of June when rebels launched their first attack on the city. "WHO sees a risk of a cholera epidemic with devastating impact in the near future given the huge population movements in the city, still overcrowded refugee camps with extremely poor hygene, and heavy rainfall," it said. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Merlin reported at the end of last week that the number of new cholera cases appeared to be decreasing. But Omar Khatib, the representative of WHO in Monrovia, warned on Monday that a fresh surge was likely as thousands of displaced people returned to their homes from temporary shelters following a truce between government and rebel fighters which has held since August 5. Many of these were infected with cholera and were taking the disease back into the community, he said. Cyrus Paye, the supervisor of the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) cholera hospital at Samuel Doe stadium, the largest single shelter for displaced people in Monrovia, confirmed this analysis. He told IRIN that the facility recorded 103 new cases in the week to August 16 from 66 the week before, but about three quarters of these were from the neighbouring suburbs of Paynesville and Gardnersville rather than the estimated 26,000 people living in the stadium. More than 200,000 people have been displaced from their homes by heavy fighting in Monrovia since the beginning of June and WHO said some of them lucky enough to receive clean water from tanker trucks were only getting two litres per day to drink, cook with and wash in. The organisation said many more relied on water from 5,000 polluted wells in the city and it was urgent to ensure that the 1,000 biggest wells were chlorinated regularly. Paye, the supervisor of the MSF cholera hospital, agreed. "The central thing I would really like to see happening is massive chlorination of the wells in Paynesville," he said. Another common means of cholera infection was rainwater collected in dirty containers, he noted. Liberia has been in a state of civil war for 14 years and its shabby capital has not enjoyed piped water since 1992. However, water engineers were due to restore piped drinking water to an estimated 300,000 people living in the Bushrod Island area of the city this weekend following the repair of pumping equipment at the White Plains water works. A project to rehabilitate the water distribution system on Bushrod Island had just been completed when fighters of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement launched their first attack on the city on June 6.