Burundi: sixty-six cholera cases already detected (ministry)

This Wednesday, authorities at the ministry in charge of health held a press briefing about the cholera epidemic. They say the disease identified in December 2022 north of the commercial city Bujumbura has spread to other areas. Sixty-six people have already been infected. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

It is Chloé Ndayikunda, director general at the ministry in charge of health, who gave the figures. She indicates that cholera declared since December north of the commercial capital Bujumbura has spread to other health districts.

“The first cases were detected in the Kinama zone in the Bukirasazi I neighborhood at the 1st Avenue. It is in the district of Ntahangwa. Since then, the epidemic has spread to other neighborhoods”, she said.

According to the health authority, the neighborhoods of Gatumba (province of Bujumbura, west), the center of Bujumbura as well as Cibitoke (northwest) have also recorded cases of cholera.

“[…], the localities of Gatumba, Rukaramu, Mutimbuzi, Maramvya, Kajaga and Ruziba have already identified cases”, she detailed before specifying that forty-nine patients are cured out of a total of
sixty-six cases already identified.

What the ministry provides

According to the ministry, the disease is so contagious that it needs to be monitored.

“It’s a disease that we have to watch out for a lot. We advise residents to observe rules of hygiene, to wash their hands regularly before eating, […]”, she advises.

The director general of the ministry in charge of health in Burundi calls on the inhabitants in general and those of the areas already affected in particular to observe rules of hygiene without forgetting to boil water before using it.

While two patients recently escaped from the Prince Régent Charles Hospital (center of the city of Bujumbura), the authority of the ministry regrets the incident and asks local administration officials to verify that former patients returning from hospitals had been discharged and had an exit ticket.

She also calls on community health workers to increase public awareness sessions on compliance with hygiene measures.

“[…], we also have a national plan to fight against cholera that we must update. So, we are redeveloping treatment centers in Cibitoke and that of the Prince Régent Charles hospital”, concluded Dr. Ndayikunda.

In Cibitoke province, the doctor in charge of the Cibitoke health district confirms that only two patients are currently bedridden out of a total of 19 people infected by cholera.

Between 2017 and January 2023, the small East African nation has already recorded nearly a thousand cases of cholera, according to a report from the ministry in charge of health seen by SOS Médias Burundi.