Cholera kills 17

A cholera outbreak since 1 September has killed 17 people and infected 352 others, the head of disease prevention and control at the Ministry of Health in Freetown, Dr Haroun Thuray, told IRIN. "From 9-10 September, 14 deaths and 29 cases were recorded in Port Loko district alone," Thuray said. Thuray described the situation in Port Loko as "bad" due to the high fatality rate and the movement of traders into the area from the neighbouring district of Kambia, which placed extra pressure on existing sanitation facilities. Kambia is some 100 km north of Freetown on the border with Guinea. Cholera preparedness in Port Loko was poor, Thuray said, because aid agencies had been unable to pre-position supplies. "Accessibility has been a problem," he said, "but we hope to have supplies arriving tomorrow (Tuesday)." A World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman in Freetown told IRIN that WHO was trying to determine whether cholera was also present in other parts of Sierra Leone, particularly Kambia district, which WHO describes as a "reservoir of cholera". WHO has provided IV fluids, oral rehydration salts and technical guidance to the district medical team in Port Loko and to Lungi hospital, which serves the district, the WHO source said, adding "there is currently sufficient capacity in Sierra Leone to treat 2,000 cases". In Freetown, cholera preparedness has been much better than in Port Loko and the fatality rate lower -- 323 infections and three deaths from cholera were recorded in the period 1-12 September, according to Thuray. He said there were cholera treatment centres all over Freetown, staffed by aid workers from WHO, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Medecins sans Frontieres-Belgium, Merlin, Children's Aid Direct and the Ministry of Health. He added that weekly radio broadcasts were made in the local krio language to improve cholera awareness among the population. Thuray said four committees had been set up under the umbrella of the Cholera Task Force, which he chaired, to improve emergency cholera preparedness. These bodies include a surveillance sub-committee to observe trends, a case-management committee to monitor the treatment of those infected and an environmental health and sanitation committee responsible for spraying compounds with disinfectant. The fourth is an information, education and communications committee tasked with disseminating information on ways in which cholera can be prevented.