Cholera death toll passes 1,000 in Malawi as outbreak spreads
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[January 25, 2023]
BLANTYRE (Reuters) - The death toll from a cholera outbreak in
Malawi has passed 1,000 while cases have risen to 30,621, the highest on
record in the country, Health Minister Khumbize Chiponda said on
Wednesday.
Most of the deaths occurred in the two main cities of Lilongwe and
Blantyre where children have recently gone back to classes after schools
delayed opening to try and contain the spread.
Chiponda called on people to take extra care handling the bodies of
cholera victims before funerals.
“People who are dying from cholera may be washed by family members who
then prepare funeral feasts ... Outbreaks of cholera commonly follow
these feasts," she said.
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The minister called for people to use proper decontamination procedures
with chlorine and plastic body bags.
Cholera regularly hits the southern
African country during rains from November to March, but there was
an unusually high surge in contaminations during and after the
festive season. The usual annual death toll is around 100.
“The cumulative confirmed cases and deaths since the onset of the
outbreak is 30,621 and 1,002, respectively with case fatality rate
at 3.27%,” Chiponda said.
Health officials said last week that a number of clinics in the
country, which received 2.7 million doses of the cholera vaccine
under a WHO programme, were running low of supplies.
The health ministry refused to comment on vaccine stock situation
when reached by Reuters.
(Reporting by Frank Phiri; Editing by Anait Miridzhanian and Andrew
Heavens)
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