93 cases of cholera in Rumonge

Rumonge District, in Burundi’s southern province of Bururi, has registered 93 cases of cholera resulting in four deaths since January, health services have reported. The director of Rumonge hospital, Dr Innocent Ntamavukiro, told IRIN on Wednesday that 18 people were hospitalised at his facility. The majority of patients are from Kizuka subcounty, about 10 km from Rumonge centre. Other affected areas include Kanyenkoko and Iteba, two suburbs of Rumonge urban centre, with a majority of Muslim residents. The epidemic broke out on 11 January in Kanyenkoko and Iteba. Health authorities thought the situation had been brought under control by the end of the month, with 38 cases recorded. However, five new cases were registered in early February in Kizuka. While medicines are available free of charge, Rumonge administrator Emile Hicintuka said patients often failed to seek timely medical care. "Three of the four people died at home. People believe in witchcraft and prefer to consult traditional healers," he said. In a meeting with local administration officials on Monday, Hicintuka urged them to sensitise Rumonge residents about hygiene and sanitation, and the importance of seeking medical treatment as soon as possible. However, Ntamavukiro said his hospital lacked sufficient serologic solutions to cope with the situation. "We have to renew the stock regularly from Bujumbura, but we need a permanent stock here, especially now that the health centre of Kizuka does not help much," he said. Staffed by two nurses, Kizuka health centre cannot ensure night service, leaving cholera patients to travel 10 km to reach Rumonge hospital. Cholera epidemics occur almost every year in Rumonge, possibly due to an acute shortage of clean water and overpopulation in many suburbs of Rumonge centre, Ntamavukiro said. Many low-income people in Rumonge use polluted water from Lake Tanganyika for all their needs, including drinking.