Over 700 people in Vubwi potentially affected by cholera – Masebo

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Over 700 people in Vubwi potentially affected by cholera – Masebo

MINISTER of Health Sylvia Masebo has announced the breakout of cholera in Vubwi district in Eastern Province.

Vubwi district borders with Malawi, a country that has been fighting tooth and nail to win a fight over cholera.

At an emergency media briefing last evening, Masebo said her ministry received an alert indicating a cholera outbreak in Vubwi district, since January 22, 2023.

The minister disclosed that there are four confirmed cases of cholera in Vubwi district and that another seven cases of the waterborne disease were being investigated.

“Sadly, we have recorded one death from there. The areas affected are villages within Chikoma, Mbande, Chipanje, and Mzigawa rural health centre catchment areas,” Masebo said.

She noted that the district rapid response teams, supported by provincial health offices, are urgently responding to try and control, and break transmission of cholera in the affected areas.

Masebo spelt out the various lined up response activities, in accordance with the national multi-sectoral plan.

Such response activities include activation of the district public health emergency operations centres and incident management system, activation of the district epidemic preparedness prevention control and management committee meetings, intensified surveillance activities, including active case search and contact tracing and enhanced risk communication and community sensitisation activities.

Others are advocacy and stakeholder engagement and provincial team deployment to support district responses.

“To these ends, we have so far identified all the contact persons to the cases and established that the communities so far affected potentially includes up to 719 people in six villages in Vubwi district,” she noted.

A national level multi-sectoral/multidisciplinary team of experts led by the Zambia National Public Health institute (ZNPHI) were dispatched this morning to support the response.”

Masebo added that the support will be especially in the areas of surveillance, laboratory, infection prevention and control, case management and risk communication and community engagement.

Kalemba