Fears of cholera outbreak following flash floods

A contingency plan to contain a possible outbreak of cholera in Djibouti has been initiated and additional stocks of medicines and medical supplies requested, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. In an assessment report, WHO said following torrential rains from 11 to 14 April, which resulted in flash floods in several areas of Djibouti, about 300 people were estimated to have died. Some 600 houses were destroyed, 3,000 people made homeless and the lives of 100,000 people affected. "Sanitation problems continue, with many destroyed and clogged sewage pipes and water stagnating in ‘lakes’. Assessments highlight the need for urgent stocks of medicines and supplies to ensure resumption of health services in damaged centres and to be ready for possible outbreaks of cholera and malaria," it said. Noting that cholera and diarrhoeal diseases were endemic in Djibouti, WHO added: "At this stage, the health sector's main concern is to prevent, detect as early as possible and respond quickly to any outbreak. The last cholera epidemic was in 2002: 1,828 cases were declared with 32 deaths. What is feared now is an outbreak of cholera." According to WHO, the torrential rains that struck Djibouti occurred after a long dry period. "The country faces yearly torrential rains and occasional flooding. The last important flood occurred in 1994 and left 100 people dead, displaced populations, and resulted in aggravated epidemics of cholera and malaria," it said. WHO said that in the course of this year's floods, 56 bodies of mostly women and children were transported to the morgue of the only referral hospital, Peltier. Some 24 wounded were admitted while 36 people were reported missing. Government officials told IRIN on 19 April that 53 people had been killed by the floods after the Ambouli river burst its banks on 12 April, and another 1,500 rendered homeless. Many of the homeless, including Somali and Oromo refugees from neighbouring countries, had been living in the river's wadis, or dry watercourses. The officials said that following the torrential rains, the government had decided to revive an earlier plan to permanently relocate people living within the wadis of the main rivers to higher ground, where they would be safer from flooding. Djibouti has a population of about 500,000, more than two-thirds of whom live in the capital, Djibouti City. The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System (FEWS-Net) said over 100 mm of rainfall inundated much of the tiny Horn of Africa country during the two days. That rainfall accumulation, FEWS-Net added, had approached Djibouti's normal annual total.