Diarrhoea outbreak kills 12 in Afmadow District

An outbreak of diarrhoea in Afmadow District in southwestern Somalia has claimed the lives of at least 12 people during the past week, medical sources said on Monday.

Some 80 people were arriving at the district’s main hospital to seek treatment for diarrhoea every day, said Hassan Mursal, a clinical officer at the hospital. "So far, I can confirm 12 people have succumbed to the disease within seven days; eight were children. There is little we can do, because the drugs donated to the hospital by an aid agency in Nairobi [Kenya] last year are finished."

The worst-hit villages were around Waamo and Saa'nole. The arrival of the seasonal long rains has been a mixed blessing in Afmadow, which had suffered significant livestock losses during the prevailing regional drought. The area is littered with rotting carcasses, and health officials blamed the outbreak on contaminated wells following heavy rainfall. The district has no water-purification facilities, but a local youth group, the Juba Youth Development Association (JYDA), had initiated efforts to chlorinate water sources.

The rains have also rendered roads impassable, making it difficult to transport medical supplies to remote villages. Medical workers appealed for medicines and water-purification kits, saying aid could be flown in to the local airstrip.