Cholera crisis waning but not yet over

Mozambique's cholera crisis appears to have passed its peak, and health officials say they expect the situation to improve as the rainy season draws to an end. World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Dr Pierre Kahozi told IRIN that "it is likely that we will have a better situation" in coming weeks, as "cholera is normally linked to the rainy season". Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) official Dr Gerard Bedock said while there were "still some" cases being reported, "the big emergency of the beginning of the year seems to be over". Kahozi agreed that the number of cases being reported in the epicentre of the outbreak, Maputo, had "decreased because we are at the end of the rainy season". However, the Associated Press news agency said 22 cases of cholera had been reported during the past week in Vilankulo, a district in southern Mozambique previously unaffected by the outbreak in the capital, Maputo. Neither Kahozi nor a health ministry official contacted by IRIN could confirm this. In March IRIN reported that up to 90 people had died of cholera since the outbreak began in December last year. The government of Mozambique declared a cholera emergency in January. The WHO and other agencies, including the UN Children's Fund, MSF, World Food Programme, the United States Agency for International Development and the Italian government have provided technical and financial assistance to help control the disease. Kahozi had earlier told IRIN that the authorities, in cooperation with the humanitarian agencies, were expected to draw up a long-term plan to combat the problem.