Cholera epidemic continues to spread in Kasai Oriental Province

The cholera epidemic that erupted in September in Kasai Oriental Province of south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) continues to spread, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies reported on 22 November. As at 19 November, a total of 1,156 people were reported affected while another 80 were reported to have died. "The total number of cholera victims is unknown due to communications and access constraints, and ignorance and insufficient or lack of information on the epidemic," the Federation reported. "The epidemic also continues to spread to other areas, such as the village of Luamuela, located 30 km from Mbuji-Mayi, where 24 persons have been contaminated and three people have died." The local DRC Red Cross branch and the Belgian section of Medecins Sans Frontieres have trained 110 volunteers in preventive health. They are now involved in sensitisation campaigns, burying corpses, disinfecting contaminated persons' houses and in administering oral rehydration salts. "To cope with the patient overload, a centre has just been opened in the commune of Bipemba in Mbuji-Mayi, where many contaminated persons have been placed," the Federation reported. "To date, eight centres are receiving patients: Dipumba, Muya, and Bipemba in Mbuji-Mayi, and Tshilunde, Kabengele, Tshibile, Kabamba and Kamaleka." The Federation warned that a lack of logistic and communication materials remained a problem for the epidemic to be brought under control. The latest Federation reports on the crisis