Cholera kills three, infects 58 – Health Ministry

Health authorities in Guinea Bissau said on Monday that a cholera outbreak in the Bijagos archipelago, off the capital, Bissau, had infected 58 people, killing three. The outbreak started in a fishing community in Orangozinho Island among fishermen from neighbouring Guinea and Senegal, Julio Sa Nogueira, Secretary-General of Guinea Bissau’s Health Ministry, told reporters on Monday. By Monday, three out of the 58 people who were reportedly infected had died, he said. The authorities have sent a medical team to the island to help the population and limit the propagation of the epidemic. They have also urged people to adopt hygienic measures such as washing their hands with soap. The Guinea Bissau authorities said the situation was under control, but appealed to international donors present in Bissau for cash and equipment. The Bijagos archipelago is made up of about 40 islands with more than 20,000 inhabitants, who live mainly off fishing. The archipelago’s residents include a large number of fishermen from Guinea and Senegal, both of which have been experiencing cholera outbreaks. Guinea has had more than 1,000 cases of cholera and close to a hundred deaths in recent months, according to official statistics released by the government. However, the disease is now subsiding there. In Senegal, cholera broke out on 11 October and has so far infected 446 people, four of whom have died, according to Doctor Bassirou Johnson, an epidemiologist at the Ministry of Health. Cholera is a bacterial disease that is spread by poor sanitation and polluted drinking water. It is a perennial hazard during the rainy season in much of West Africa as latrines overflow and wells become polluted.