Cholera outbreak worsens, MSF treats 500 new cases in 48 hours

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Angola says the cholera outbreak in the country is getting worse and more deaths can be expected. Angolan Health minister Sabastiao Veloso announced last month that the outbreak was under control, but heavy rains in the capital, Luanda, have proved a setback in curbing the waterborne disease, which is associated with poor sanitation and access to potable water. Senior UNICEF Programme Officer Akhil Iyer said, "The problem is not under control. There has not been a huge number of deaths yet ... but more needs to be done; more money is needed." According to the Ministry of Health, cholera has claimed 142 lives and 3,321 cases have been reported in the northwestern provinces of Luanda, Bengo and Kwanza Norte, and the central coastal province of Benguela; 2,179 of the cases were reported in the capital city, which has seen over 50 deaths. "The number of cases is increasing," said Iyer. "In the city, especially." Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has set up a cholera treatment centre in Boa Vista, an informal township in the centre of Luanda where around 50,000 people live and 75 percent of the cases have been reported. In the past 48 hours almost 500 new patients have arrived at MSF's centres. Iyer said Luanda's torrential rains over the last few days haven't helped either: "Rain ... has increased the cases. There is inadequate drainage [in the informal settlements] and so the water doesn't run off ... but sits and stagnates. Some of the slums were actually flooded." Overcrowding and appalling sanitation are exacerbating the outbreak in the informal townships or 'musseques', mainly inhabited by internally displaced persons who fled the devastating 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. "[The settlements] are densely populated, conditions in the neighbourhood unhygienic, [so it is] easier [for cholera] to spread, and difficult to control," explained Iyer. Cholera is most often transmitted through contaminated water and food. If untreated, the mortality rate is between 25 percent and 50 percent and people usually die of dehydration, according to MSF. From 1987 to 1995, Angola, especially in Luanda and the coastal areas, was affected by a recurrent seasonal cholera epidemic that caused an estimated 90,000 cases and more than 4,500 deaths, but there have been no major outbreaks since 1995, and only occasional unconfirmed cases have been reported.