Cholera kills four, hospitalises 150 in Kiteto

MARIAM JUMA in Manyara

CHOLERA continues to spread like veld fire in Manyara Region and this time around, the remote Kiteto District seems to suffer the worst, recording highest number of patients.

The Manyara Regional Medical Officer, Dr Ally Uredi, said effects of the disease are practically being felt across the entire Manyara Region, but it is Kiteto District which seems to suffer the most and the situation is fuelled by ignorance among local residents in the precinct.

Dr Uredi revealed here that more than 150 people in Kiteto District have been infected with Cholera and so far four patients have lost their lives from the disease. Babati Rural District recorded 19 patients, but no death so far, Simanjiro has 13 patients but also without death.

Hanang where there is only a cholera patient admitted to hospital, has already recorded a single death. Babati Township also has one cholera victim but no death was recorded.

According to the Medical Officer, the entire Manyara Region recorded 185 cholera victims. A total of five people have lost lives from the disease within the month of December 2015.

Nationally, Cholera was reported from Dar-es-Salaam city back in August 2015 and since then it spread to Singida, then the Coast, Morogoro, Dodoma, Kigoma, Geita, Arusha, Mwanza, Tabora, Mara, Tanga, Lindi, Kilimanjaro, Iringa and Rukwa. Cholera was first reported in Manyara Region on the 7th of November 2015.

Kiteto is reported to suffer most from the disease due to the district’s filthiest environment and fuelled by ongoing rains. Authorities in Kiteto claim that the residents of the precinct have been adamant to drink boiled water, saying it was tasteless and thus prefer to drink water obtained from local wells without boiling or treating it with the right formulas in order to kill germs.

Already, the government in Manyara Region has taken the initiative of treating all water wells in Kiteto and other Cholera affected areas. The Manyara regional Hospital of Babati was recently named the cleanest health facility in the country.