Zambian health officials are on high alert after a three-year-old girl was reported to have contracted cholera in the capital Lusaka, APA learnt here on Tuesday.
Health Minister Sylvia Masebo told journalists that the Zambia National Public Health Institute has activated its surveillance system to ascertain the extent of the outbreak after the girl tested positive for the disease in Lusaka’s Mtendere compound.
The girl is currently receiving treatment at a clinic in the area.
She attributed the outbreak to unsafe water and lack of adequate sanitation facilities in the area and called on all Zambians to observe high standards of hygiene to prevent the further spread of the disease.
Cholera is a common disease in southern Africa due to the existence of old water and sanitation infrastructure.
JN/APA