Medical charity to reopen its cholera treatment centre

The medical charity, Medecins Sans Frontieres, said on Friday it was reopening its specialised cholera treatment centre, following an alert on the outbreak of the disease. The Ministry of Public Health raised the alarm on Monday, and by the following day it announced it had registered 88 cases. MSF said its centre had existed since 1995, when it was first set up to treat people displaced following the destruction of Kamenge, a neighbourhood north of the capital, Bujumbura, during the civil war. Since then, it added, the centre had served as a supplementary feeding facility for malnourished children, a cholera clinic and an extension to the neighbouring MSF centre for war-wounded. The cholera centre was closed following the signing of power-sharing accords in 2003 and 2004 between the government and other political groups, MSF said, "but kept on stand-by" as very poor hygienic conditions and lack of clean water in the suburbs could lead to a cholera outbreak. Many poor neighbourhoods lack water because the water utility, Regideso, cut supplies to public fountains when the city council failed to pay bills. The director general of the ministry, Dr Georges Nsengiyumva, told IRIN on Wednesday that people lacked modern toilet facilities in Bujumbura neighbourhoods, making the eradication of cholera difficult. However, MSF said local authorities were conducting a public awareness campaign and were spraying contaminated areas with a chlorinated solution. The ministry said the present cholera epidemic began after heavy rains reportedly affected water treatment equipment owned by Regideso. The greatest number of infections has occurred in Kamenge where, Nsengiyumva said, the first case was identified. MSF said: "Cholera is a potentially fatal and outbreaks of the disease occur quite regularly countrywide in Burundi. In June 2004, MSF responded to an outbreak in Cibitoke Province treating 200 patients. "The rapid dehydration caused by the disease can be treated by the patient intravenously receiving an average of 8-10 litres of water per day. Complete recovery usually comes within 48 hours. Despite this, in many areas of the Great Lakes, cholera is still a significant killer." [On the Net: MSF reacts to new cholera outbreak in Burundi: www.msf.org] [BURUNDI: Capital hit by cholera outbreak]