Mozambique has declared a cholera outbreak in its central Zambezia region, days after the southern African country reported the re-emergency of polio cases.
According to Zambezia provincial health services director Oscar Haward, scores of people have been hospitalised in the region after suffering from acute diarrhoea.
“Since the outbreak of acute diarrhoea started in Quelimane city, we have had a cumulative of 47 patients hospitalised,” Haward told journalists late Monday.
He did not give details of any fatalities.
This is the second time a Mozambican region has reported a cholera outbreak in two months after neighbouring Sofala province recorded 30 cholera cases in April.
Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with bacteria.
Mozambican health authorities last week declared a polio outbreak after the virus was detected in a child in the north-eastern Tete province.
The country’s first case since 1992, the virus was found in a child who began experiencing onset of paralysis in late March.
JN/APA