Cholera breaks out in the northwest

Cholera has broken out in the northwestern province of Cibitoke, with health officials having recorded 95 cases since 5 December 2003. "The most affected area has been Rugombo Commune, where a total of 83 cases have been reported," Martin Bayisingize, the provincial health director, told IRIN on Tuesday. He noted that 67 of the cases were reported at Rugombo and Rukana health centres and 16 others at Cibitoke Hospital. One of the symptoms of cholera, an acute intestinal bacterial infection, is diarrhoea that can lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given. Vomiting also occurs in most patients. The Cibitoke outbreak was first recorded in December 2003 at Buganda, another commune in Cibitoke, before it spread to Rugombo. Since cholera is spread by contaminated water and food, local administrative officials have ordered restaurants and bars in Rugombo closed. The public has been urged to boil drinking water. Bayisingize said the outbreak was slowly spreading to other communes, and that on Tuesday alone, three cases were reported in the commune of Mugina, which neighbours Rugombo. However, Bayisingize said the province had enough medicine to deal with the outbreak. He called on the public to seek treatment from health centres whenever they noticed the initial symptoms of cholera. Cibitoke Province, especially Rugombo Commune, faces an acute water problem. "People have no water and use River Nyamagana for everything. We know that people upstream pour their waste in the river," Bayisingize said.