Burundian Public Health and AIDS Control Minister Sylvie Nzeyimana announced that cholera had broken out in the nation’s commercial city, Bujumbura, on Sunday evening.
“Nine suspected cholera cases were identified on Dec. 30, 2022 in the northern health district in the commercial capital Bujumbura with symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting, mainly in Bukirasazi neighborhood in Kinama zone. The next day, two other suspected cases were identified in Mutakura neighborhood, close to Bukirasazi,” said Nzeyimana in the statement.
She claimed that another suspected case was reported in Buyenzi, close to the city’s centre, and that this one had touch with one of the suspected cases in Bujumbura’s north.
“Results of the National Public Health Institute (INSP) issued on Dec. 31, 2022 have confirmed that it was cholera. Today, we take this opportunity to announce that five cholera patients are hospitalised at Prince Regent Charles Hospital while seven others have already been discharged from hospital,” said Nzeyimana.
According to Nzeyimana, some preventative actions have already been implemented. She claims that they consist of cleaning infected homes, educating the neighborhood about the dangers of the epidemic spreading and the appropriate conduct to adopt, and looking for other cholera cases in the neighborhood.
Between December 26 and December 31, various areas of Bujumbura and its surrounds had severe rains, which led to bathroom overflows and contributed to the cholera outbreak.
Following the disease epidemic, the Burundian health ministry also outlawed the sale of cooked and uncooked food items in Bujumbura.
Cholera, largely eliminated from industrialised countries by water and sewage treatment over a century ago, still remains a significant cause of illness and death in many African countries.
From the late 1990’s through the first decade of the twenty-first century, sub-Saharan Africa has reported more cholera cases and more cholera deaths than any other region. With some exceptions, this trend has continued through most years of the second decade of this century. The region is broadly affected by many cholera cases and outbreaks that can spread across countries.